I painted many cars, and painted them very well with a 3 HP Sears compressor. Some really great paint jobs. Now, mind you, if I was running a production shop, I would get something larger, but you'll be okay. I used a Devislbiss siphon feed gun, (not an HVLP), Ocassionally you might have to wait 5 minutes for the compressor to "catch up", but since you spray with only 45-50 PSI at the gun, you don't drain the tank that badly. Do one complete light coat, wait 20 minutes for it to set up, do a second slightly heavier coat and wait 20 minutes, then do a third coat.