I'm ready to start the prep work on my '78 280z. Some rust, priming, block sanding and painting. I'm guessing it will take me about a year in my spare time to complete. I need some advise on what size air compressor to purchase. I was planning on using a siphon feed gun. I was hoping to get by on a 33 gallon Craftsman compressor with a 1.6HP motor putting out 6.3 SCFM at 40psi. Is this enough? I have no problem painting in stages and then color sanding the final coat. I'd really like to keep my costs down on the compressor.

Can anyone help?

You're in luck, Paco. A year ago Keith walked us thru his exploration of different size compressors for operating pneumatic garage tools, and Bryan more recently painted his Z with a compressor and paint gun he selected after research.
If I wasn't so busy right now I'd look those Threads up and link them here.
I'm sure you'll hear from both of them!

Frank T

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1970 240Z

Purists scoff at anything less than the best. But if you just want to spray and color sand the flaws out afterwards you can get by with a modest setup. I used a Husky 30 gallon 1.8hp rated at 6.1 @40 psi (4.3@155) which only cranks up to 135psi. My gun was a Devilbiss FLG-3 (HVLP).

The downside is that a smaller compressor runs out of steam fast and sits there chugging away to bring the pressure back up after only spraying a one panel. Mine would spray great for 20 seconds but when the tank hit 90 the finish would get thicker and pebbly. 90 sounds like a lot but the SCFM at that point must have been poor. It would take 5 minutes to build back up from 90 to 135, that's lot of flash time to deal with. If I had to do it again I would buy a better compressor.

But you're using a siphon feed gun, no experience there, but I believe they are a lot more forgiving than HVLP. Perhaps someone here can chime in on those.

BTW, if you go with single-stage urethane and forgo the clearcoat you can color sand with no guilt as long as you have a few coats on. Mine is on thick an I'll be color sanding this winter.

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Bryan Little
Datsunzgarage.com

1970 240Z - enhanced F54 L28 w/P90, Weber DCOEs, 4:11 R200, Nissan T5 5-speed

Has anyone ever used aLVLP(low volume low pressure) gun? IIRC its for people who want "professional results" out of a smaller compressor. Thats where I left off in my research

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71' 240Z: HLS3040666