[jims69camaro]

ok, here's a perfect opportunity to relate a really bad experience... stay away from oil-less systems, and here's why: i bought one of those wagner oil-less paint systems. it supposedly used the paint stream to cool the moving parts. the only problem is that if you use any length of hose, then the system heats up just getting the paint flow to the gun itself. i fried it the second time i used it, and i was only using it to paint the stockade fence that i put up to keep the dog disinterested in what was happening on the street. it should have lasted well beyond that job and into the next job, as far as i am concerned. i can buy the replacement parts for it (now, why would they sell replacement parts for something that is supposed to be able to handle big jobs like painting the house without anything breaking?) but i have just let it sit in the box, since my numerous attempts to contact the company have gone unanswered. i will never again buy anything like that with moving parts that is oil-less. without the oil keeping things cool, you tear things up inside of the machine.

now, i am not sure how oil applies to an air compressor, since i have never owned one. but the instructor at the Vo-Tech said if he was starting out all over again, then he would get a two-stage with a large tank, and of course an oil-based system. so i was just repeating his recommendation to you, since it sounds like you want a start-up system. he did normal car-guy stuff in his garage, you know, like air tools and painting. nothing big, he said, just small parts and what not. so, there is my recommendation to you based on my own experience and the Vo-Tech instructors advice. an in-line filter and hose reel would be icing on the cake, but for some who don't like hose on the ground i guess that would be a necessity.