Waste & Tools

[lilspanisheddie]

I have a couple shop questions. First off, I know that you have to be really careful with the old fluids and they have to be properly disposed of. When draining the fluids, do you need to keep them seperate or can they all go into the same plastic container for disposal? What are some good containers or drain tubs to use and where do you dispose of the old fluids?

2nd Question. I don't own any airtools. Would getting a 2HP 6 gallon air compressor be a useful tool for working on cars or would it be underpowered and useless? For those of you who use air tools, what would be some good ones to have on hand besides an air wrench?

I am still about 2 weeks away from picking up my car and right now I am trying to get the garage ready and buying misc tools. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[RogerZ]

2 hp compressor and 6 gallon tank a little light. Check for cfm at 100psi. Most air tools use somewhere between 5 to 10 cfm. With a small compressor you get to pull off one nut then have to wait for pressure to build before the next one. Recommended units 3/8 air rachet, 1/2 impact wrench, air hammer w/chisels. If you aren't going to be using the tools every day I would say go to harbor freight for the stuff. If you figure lots of usage then buy better quality tools. If you can find an air compressor with teflon rings and bearings (oiless compressor) then you don't have to worry about crankcase oil for the machine and if you paint you don't get oil in the air. There are other nice things but those three are what you should get first and will do most of what you need until you start stripping a car down to the chassis and changing sheet metal around. Depend on where you recycle oil but most places do not want mixed batches. Lots of auto parts places will take used engine oil and radiator fluid.

[JimmyZ]

If you are going to be sandblasting a 2HP compressor is slow torture. You'll get 10 seconds of sandblasting time for every minute or two of waiting for the compressor to catch up. If you are relying on the compressor to run an impact wrench sporadically then a 2HP is fine.

For years I got by with a 5HP compressor but this should be considered a minimum if you really need to stand on it.

If you are painting then a larger tank (pref vertical tank 60gal) is needed. Modern spray guns (HVLP) need a 6-7HP compressor for anything more than cutting in door jambs. Small tanked machines tend to have more moisture present in the air making them undesireable for painting. You can make a small compressor work for small paint jobs though. Finish work requires a real machine though.

Get a real compressor if you can. By "real" I mean one with the motor separate from the compressor. The oiless models have inferior output and durability usually.

Hope this helps

Jim

[lilspanisheddie]

Thanks for the feedback. I think the only use I would get out of the compressor would be small use. I will not be painting.

Would you say it is probably better to use a drill with a grinder/sander attachment for removing rust/paint or to use a small compressor or purchase a specific tool? I am not thinking large areas, I am talking about areas in the inner fenders or something like that.

[JimmyZ]

Inner fenders can be stripped by Aircraft remover. You'll want to remove the rest of the paint with sandpaper. Find any rust and sandblast then Ospho the entire stripped area. After 24hrs under dry conditions you can sand or scotchbrite the "crust" off the Ospho then prime and paint. This method works quickly and does the job well.

Look into Body Shutz for respraying your IFW (wheel side)

The reason you shouldn't topcoat (clear/colorcoat) large areas using a small compressor is that you need to keep the paint wet. Spraying a pattern, waiting for the compressor to catch up then spraying the half overlap pattern is not ideal.

Jim

[moonpup]

OPB: lilspanisheddie

First off, I know that you have to be really careful with the old fluids and they have to be properly disposed of. When draining the fluids, do you need to keep them seperate or can they all go into the same plastic container for disposal? What are some good containers or drain tubs to use and where do you dispose of the old fluids?

First off, you really only need to keep your anti-freeze/coolant and oils seperate. You can however mix the engine, tranny and diff oils with no problem.

As far as a good container to put them in, there are probably lots of choices, but my favorite is the one I included a pic of. It's a 5 gal plastic container that restaraunts get their deep fryer oils in. Alot of times you can just check their dumpsters for ones that have been discarded or go in and talk with the employees and ask them when they usually change out the fryer oil and see if they will save you one or two containers, and then arrange to come pick them up. These are great containers as they hold alot, have a big handle and a large opening to pour the fluids in!

And finally, most of your auto parts stores will have collection bins available and will allow you to dispose of your fluids at no charge.

[lilspanisheddie]

What about old gas? I guess that shouldn't be mixed with any of the other fluids either. When I drain the tank, I'm sure there will be a lot of sludge and junk that comes out. Besides disposing of it at a garage or Auto store , any other precautions besides the more obvious flammable issues?