Air compressor advice

[ChallengerHK]

I've just bought a house (for the first time, pics to be posted as soon as I find where I packed the cable for my digital camera) and one of my first purchaes is going to be an air compressor. I need to find out what kind of specs I need to look for in terms of pressure, flow and tank size. Early on I'll be doing general wrenching, like the suspension upgrade I've been working toward.

[wiging19]

   Good question.  I'm interested in the answer to this question.

[HemiDog]

There are a lot of good threads here about this.  Just do a search on compressors.  Here is just one:
http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=18841.0

When I bought my compressor, I didn't want to have to buy another.   I went for a two stage, aimed for a 80 gallon tank, and highest cfm I could afford.  I knew I would want to run a small blast cabinet and that is usually the most demanding tool you can attach to a compressor.

[miketyler]

yup - if you plan on doing body work your tools will have a high CFM demand. You should settle for nothing less than a two-stage unit. No cheap oil-less models. They just can't keep up. I am using a three cylinder two stage 220V unit on a 25GAL tank. It does pretty well for my needs

[matt63]

Don't base your comparisons on hp as these ratings are mostly marketing gimmicks.  How can you possibly run a 5 hp compressor on 110v?  A real 5 hp compressor will put out closer to 4 cfm per hp.  My Campbell Hausfeld 5 hp 110 volt 30 gallon tank unit is a great little unit but it will not keep up with a rotary sander where as a proper 5 hp unit will.

[ChallengerHK]

All good advice, thanks. Having just taken out a mortgage, I may not be able to afford what I really need to get. I might have to start cheap and upgrade later. for the record, my bodywork skills are awful, so I don't think I need to worry about that.

[BIGSHCLUNK]

Check out a few auctions, sometimes when shops close up some of the bigger stuff goes very reasonably cause the demand is not as high. -SOMETIMES- 

[ChallengerHK]

Thanks, schlunk, I've been in contact with a shop closing down from craigslist. Wish me luck.