When I redid my 71 I used a 30gal 5 hp Craftsman bought new in 1998. I painted the car with an Harbor Freight HVLP gun and it turned out nice. That air compressor bit the dust about 2 years ago. I have an upright 60 gallon 7 HP 2 cyl craftsman that they no longer make parts for but was supposedly recalled back sometime around I think 2007. The electric motor runs fine but is very loud. HF has a replacement pump that supposedly fits for $299. Now that I am starting on my 69 and doing an actual frame off I am not sure which way t go but the budget does not allow for a $1000+ air compressor.

Are there any good compressors in the $500 and under price range that you DIY guys have used\are using? Brand? Where to buy?

Also, is there anything I can do with this old upright 60 gallon tank? Anybody used the Harbor Freight replacement pump? If I don't replace the pump is there any usage for the tank or just haul it to the dump?

Thanks
Wade

 

A few things come to mind. Check locally with a shop that may be able to fix your pump or sell you a rebuilt pump. Also, check the website Garage Journal. Post your question there. They have much more tool and compressor traffic then we have on this forum. Good luck. Jerry

 

There are only 3 major parts to a compressor. The tank, the pump, and the motor. Just replace what failed. My compressor was old when I inherited it in 1982. I have replaced everything but the tank at least once since then.

 

yup, fix it

 

Just make sure the tank is still good. If you drained the moisture as you used it things should be fine. But some people don't even know about that issue. I have seen tanks where there is rust at the bottom of the tank which eventually leaks. Not common, just make sure before you do all of this work.

 

If noise is not an issue, repair what you have.
i still run my 30 yo 5 hp craftsman..
i was impressed wirh how quiet those no oil low decibel compressors are like below..
maybe get that and when big job comes, use your 60 gallon tank for extra capacity!

 

About a month ago I found one on sale at Tractor Supply. A Dewalt,2hp,60gal that gives about 11.5 cfm. I am planning on shooting some paint in the spring. It was marked down to $599.00. Best deal I could find anywhere. I would call a few stores and see if any are still running the deal or if a manager knew of any cumming up soon.

 

I had a Campbell Hausfeld that was loud enough to wake the dead. After 25 years I was glad when the tank finally rusted through.
I picked up a cheap "silent" 20 gallon upright Husky from Home Depot and love it. Of course the silent claim is exaggerated, but it's quiet enough that you can have a normal conversation standing right next to it, which is amazing for an oilless compressor. It's actually quieter than a handheld compressor you plug into 12 volt lighter socket.
My backup is a ~20 gallon belt drive oil type compressor that belonged to my grandfather which is extremely quiet and still works fine at 80 years old.

 

Forget repairing the pump you have. Chance of finding parts is slim to none. You need at least 12 cfm, and preferably a bit more, to spray paint. Forget the quiet oil free compressors as they're very inefficient as compared to standard pumps when judged by cfm per hp. And, when based on dollars per cfm, they aren't cheap. For example, you'd need 3 of the 2hp California Air Tools compressors to have enough capacity to spray paint reliably.

Since you have a 60 gal tank, it would be an ASME code tank. Regardless of brand, any compressed air tank 30 gallons or more sold in the US must be, by law, built to ASME code and stamped as such. That 30 gal start point is why you see a lot of compressors with 26 or 28 gallon tanks. Stay under 30 gal and you can market most anything as a compressed air tank with no requirements for construction or testing..

Next step is to determine the real hp of the motor you have. Forget the 7 hp rating as that's just a part of the lying that goes on in rating consumer products. If it is a 5 hp motor, the full load amperage rating will be somewhere between 22 and 25 amps @ 240 volts. If your existing motor is noisy, its most likely the bearings. Not difficult to pull it apart and replace the bearings. They will be standard metric ball bearings and a pair of electric motor grade sealed bearings would cost you less than $20. Check the amperage rating of the motor and post it here for guidance.

The HF 2 stage pump is $229 rather than $299. I replaced an old Devilbiss pump with one of the 3 hp HF pumps about 3 1/2 years ago and it has performed just fine. One thing you can do to lengthen the life of any compressor pump is to lower the operating pressures. Although my pump is rated for 150 psi, I have the pressure switch set to cut in at 95 psi and cut out at 125 psi. The pump will run much cooler, and there's no point in running at max pressure. At my shop where I make a living, I have both 10 hp and 5 hp compressors. Both are 2 stage and rated for 175 psi, but I have both set to operate between 105 and 135 psi. The 5 hp is a home shop grade compressor I bought at an auction 25 years ago, and it was at least 5 yrs old at that time. It stays on 24/7 and has never given any problems. I'm sure, if it was set to pump to 175 psi on every cycle, the pump would've been worn out long ago. Pressure is no substitute for CFM, and this is especially true when painting.

If you go with the HF pump, you'd need a pulley and a B section belt, both of which are available at Tractor Supply. About $50 total for both. If you're ambitious enough to take on a frame off restoration, then putting together a compressor for something in the $300 to $350 range should be a piece of cake.

 

I also had an ancient 60 gallon Campbell Hausfeld that worked great. The bottom started to rust out also and I wanted to replace it but couldn’t figure how to get rid of it. Finally found someone in the neighborhood that wanted it, not sure why. I replaced it with a 20 gallon California Air Tools compressor ordered through Home Depot for around $625.00. It doesn’t have near the power of the old one but in reality I don’t need that much since I replaced my old air impact wrenches with battery powered ones. It’s very quiet and takes up maybe half the space.

 

Have you figured out what is wrong with the compressor you have?

 

A big, used compressor is the way to go if it was me. The affordable new stuff available is Chinese ****. If the tank and motor are still good you just need the "pump".

 

HI All,
Good evening. Just another day in Paradise and only 26 days til Spring... In Missouri they would make a Bar B Q or Smoker out of it......
Have a great week,
Fred

 

Hey guys! Sorry I have been working a lot and not on things I enjoy!🤣
Here are pics of what I have. I know I cannot repair the pump because the ring I have circled is not available.
so after reading all the comments I’m thinking that I could take a chance on one of the HF pumps.

https://www.harborfreight.com/5-hp-1...ump-59672.html

Any idea if it will bolt up or need to be modified?

 

Welllll.... for starters, 15 amps at 240V is 3 hp. Those oilfree pumps are typically coupled directly to the motor, so it depends on the shaft configuration of your motor whether you can reuse the motor with a sheave and pulley for a belt drive setup. If the motor can be used in a belt drive setup, it should run the 3.7 hp single stage HF pump if you set up the pressure switch for 125 psi cutout. They're rating the pump for 3.7 hp at 155 psi, so it should be well below that figure at 125psi. Without having the cover removed to see how it is set up now, its sort of a guess as to what you might do with it.

 

I have the cover off. I can get more this afternoon and post them. If I can fix this thing I would love to.

I will be putting a 2 post lift in this spring which is what I will use to pull the body off the frame. When I did my 71 I stripped it as far down as I could go without pulling the body. That was the days of no room, no money and child raising.
Now I have plenty of room, a little money and grown kids!🤣🤣

Thanks for the info! 👍🍻

Wade

 

I can’t find a direct replacement pump and the only parts still available are the sleeves and the non ring gap piston ring.
i hate to trash it if I can get a new pump. The motor runs fine and I know the tank was drained regularly and in good shape.