Can We Paint a Car with a Vacuum Cleaner

I just caught this on YouTube and figured people might get something outta it. Pretty neat. I've heard of this method of course but this is the first time I've seen it done.

 

4 pages of comments

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/anyone-remember-electrolux-paint-jobs.989936/

From the days when we used what we had. A tree could be a bender or engine hoist.

 

I bought a Cushman step thru about 1958 and I think I painted it 3 times with an old vacuum cleaner my mom had quit using.

 

My mom has the spray gun attachment that came with the Kirby vacuum cleaner that she bought in '72..... I've only replaced the belt once on that thing since she bought it.... 52 years old and it still works like a charm.... Not bad for a $200.00 investment....

 

You can, but should you?

 

I have/had a friend now departed that painted his '50 Caddy with a vacuum cleaner and it looked like alligator skin, not paint...but he loved it...but then again he wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer!

 

Painted my friends 49 Chev 2dr. with his mother's vacuum cleaner in 1963. He changed the color from the dark green to bright red. It was my job to pick bugs, flies and tree debris out of the wet paint while he painted under the big tree in his families back yard. He and his brother went on to very successful body shops in business for almost 50yrs.

 

My grandmother had the Kirby paint attachment as I recall. Sadly when my grandmother passed, my mom sent her Kirby to the Salvation Army.

 

I have sprayed cars with a vac type system Cap spray,wagner,TPI are some brands works good it has a steady warm dry air with no contamination from a compressor. Through whatever you no out the window with one of these there a whole different animal practice first. We modified the gun to gravity feed works much better.

 

When you use a vacuum cleaner to paint a car is there a specific attachment you favor? I would think the crevice cleaner would work well in door jambs.

 

Dad still has my grandmother's Electrolux barrel vacuum from the late 60's. I dread to think how many floors, cars and couches that thing has cleaned. It is loud enough to wake the dead, and terrible when one has a hangover. Original hoses still in great shape (some form of plastic, braided), aluminium now looks brushed from so much use. Things were once made to last... you bought something thinking it would last a lifetime, and they mostly did. These were still being reconditioned and sold by some of the larger retailers in the early 2000's.

Cheers,
Harv

 

this is from a rainbow vacuum cleaner owner's manual. they made this model approximately from 1955 to around 1980.

 

My moms rainbow had a spray gun with it.

 

I have the whole rig. My mom had 2 Electrolux's with all of the stuff. I kept the stuff and the better vacuum. Older than I am and still sucks better than anything new. Mike

 

My Father painted our 49 Cadillac with a vacuum cleaner set up, two tone white and green. It looked pretty good from 50 feet away. He later painted his jeep Playboy pink the easy way, with a whisk broom. Just some memories from a red neck child hood.

 

I recall the Kirby & spray accessories, $200. Was a lot of dough in '72

 

Well, that's what they paid for it.... Like I mentioned once already, I only replaced the belt on it once and it still runs like new.....

 

It’s just early HVLP . Still use it .

 

My dad and uncle Hank painted Hank's Vincent Black Shadow in the yard under a huge oak tree with a Kirby vacuum cleaner, the motorcycle looked pretty good when reassembled, the bike was the first thing they tried to paint with the vacuum cleaner, they also painted my dad's '56 Chevy sedan delivery and some outdoor furniture.

They ended up painting a neighbors truck before Hank got transferred to a new job in Virginia and took the Kirby with him. HRP

 

The original HVLP.

 

i picked one up and very well might give it a go when my project eventually gets to that stage. i figure it might be a fun learning experience and might be kind to someone who's never painted anything beyond 1/12th scale models. at least the device can make a nice conversation piece.

 

You will probably figure out that the paint has to mixed with quite a bit of thinner for it to work properly. Lacquer primed a 49 Chevy, a panel at a time as I worked on them, with a vacuum set up…..way back when!

 

ok that's good to hear... uh, read. because that goes along with what bits i'm picking up.

i probably should experiment before i point anything at the body to be painted anyway and i'm more curious about this than i started out being.

thanks for the tip.

 

Can you paint a car with a vacuum cleaner?
You can, but it will suck.