9 Harbor Freight Finds To Help Set Up Your Own Home Body Repair & Paint Shop

The modern home mechanic is a bit of an everyman. Handy homebodies looking to invest their time and energy into a new hobby — or even a change of career that capitalizes on an existing love of the automotive industry –might consider body repair work beyond the project car. Once you've finished bringing a vehicle back to life, you may quickly develop a hunger for painting and auto body repair. 

It might start with gawking at a friend's dented ride or an offer to repaint a simple bumper on a sibling's aging vessel. No matter how your journey into the automotive repair space takes shape, building out a fully functional home body touch up space remains the dream for many. Fortunately, this dream can actually take shape with just a few pieces of equipment and a solid repertoire of know-how.

Many car enthusiasts may already have a few pieces of equipment lying around the garage. Likewise, even the average car lover will be roundly familiar with the gear and goods that Harbor Freight has to offer. A simple repair kit and a smattering of consumables (like towels, sandpaper, and cleaning supplies) can get you by with a few projects here and there. 

That said, if you're looking to make the jump into a more substantial shop of your own, an upgrade or two will make all the difference. From lifting gear and a new impact wrench to a professional-grade puller set and body repair kit, these are some great finds at Harbor Freight that can transform your journey.

A body repair kit is high up there on the list for an aspiring automotive repair enthusiast. Anyone looking to establish a home repair shop will obviously need the ability to pull dents and work with other kinds of damage to a car's chassis. The Daytona 10-Ton Professional Hydraulic Body Repair Kit is the first step in the right direction when bringing in these capabilities. 

Selling at Harbor Freight for $360, the repair kit is listed with a Member-Only deal price of $280 until May 30, 2024. The Inside Track Club Membership provides all kinds of discounts to Harbor Freight buyers, and the savings on this gear alone amounts to a greater price cut than the $29.99 yearly membership fee.

The repair kit provides 10 tons of ram force to pull large and small dents, and it can be leveraged for spreading, straightening, bending, lifting, and pushing tasks, too. The body repair tools here are the perfect option for managing all kinds of mishaps your project car (or any other vehicle you're working on) may have seen. Moreover, the 10-ton model from Daytona comes with an added 4-ton, extra-short ram that's perfect for augmenting your repair capacity to handle smaller dings and accommodate work in tight corners and edges. The repair kit won't be available online until May 17, 2024, which means that until then you'll need to run in to pick one up.

An impact wrench isn't strictly necessary for small automotive repairs, but it sure does help! Many of the lower impact twisting tasks can be performed with a socket set or wrench, but for the most stubborn of fasteners, there's no substitute for the impact wrench. Every mechanic will eventually find themselves up against a nut that simply won't turn under hand pressure. This is where the impact wrench really shines, but it can perform simpler turning tasks with ease too, speeding up your work and lessening the strain you put yourself under. 

Harbor Freight carries a few varieties of impact wrenches, but the most impressive are found within its Hercules cordless power tool range. The Hercules 20V Brushless Cordless 1/2-inch Ultra Torque Impact Wrench with Friction Ring is a shining example of what Harbor Freight offers the home automotive enthusiast. Priced at $190 for the bare tool only — no battery or charging gear included — it's not the ultimate budget weapon, but a Hercules impact wrench will get the job done.

The Hercules 20-volt unit delivers four modes with an auto shutoff/bolt removal function. This fourth mode utilizes a controlled power delivery that can prevent overtightening in forward gear and enough breakaway torque to remove a nut followed by a slowed turning power to manage the removal process more comprehensively. The wrench offers speeds at 1,600 RPM and breakaway torque that reaches 1,500 ft-lbs for maximum fastening power in either direction.

Painting is an essential part of any auto repair work. A home body repair and paint outfit simply can't complete the task at hand without a quality paint sprayer. Small scale rust repair works might allow for standard spray painting from a color matched can of paint, but routine repair and painting demands a little more than the run of the mill touch up. 

Anyone hoping to tackle auto repair tasks after setting up a fully fledged paint and repair shop will need to up their game. The Black Widow by Spectrum sprayer is a gravity fed air spray gun that utilizes a rear fan control setup. The gun is constructed with a forged aluminum body for a solid build quality and light weight. It offers professional painting results with both primer and base coats, and can accommodate both water and solvent-based paint types.

At $180, the paint gun isn't going to break the bank, and yet it performs at a level comparable to paint guns priced at double or triple the mark according to verified Harbor Freight users. Painters can also opt for the same device outfitted with a side fan control layout. To get painting, it's worth noting that you'll need to add a paint cup to the mix as it doesn't come with the gun. The Spectrum 1,000cc Gravity-Feed Paint Cup recommended for optimal use with the Black Widow sprayer is $20 at Harbor Freight.

A floor jack is a must-have piece of gear around the shop. Anyone working to remove dings and dents from a vehicle will need to have the option to quickly and efficiently lift the car off the ground. The Daytona 3-Ton Low Profile Professional Floor Jack with Rapid Pump retails at Harbor Freight for $180 (down from $190) and can make quick work of your lifting tasks. 

This three-ton unit can accommodate lift weights of up to 6,000 pounds, and its low profile design is great for jacking up even the lowest riders you might work on in the shop. The floor jack ranges in lift height from just 3-1/4 inches all the way up to 19-7/8 inches, providing ample height for all kinds of work. The Daytona jack's rapid pump function helps body repair pros get the job done quickly too, with a full lift requiring roughly three and a half pumps under most circumstances. Harbor Freight's Daytona brand is known for its great color options, as well, and this unit ships in pristine black, or a bright blue, green, or orange shade.

In addition to a primary jack, you may find a few accessories to be fairly helpful around the shop. Daytona's 3-Ton Heavy Duty Ratcheting Jack Stands (also shipping in a range of colors, including gray and yellow) retail for $50 and can improve your workflow tremendously. Either as a primary, standalone lifting option, or to support a vehicle once you've maneuvered your main jack into place, these jack stands can offer storage or static lift functionality.

Beyond standard jacks and jack stands that can lift and hold the entire vehicle you're working on, there may come a time that you need to lift or immobilize specific components. The Pittsburgh 1-Ton Capacity Foldable Shop Crane is listed at $270 on Harbor Freight's website and will be available for online purchase by May 29, 2024, although as of early May it remains an in-store only item, likely due to its size.

The crane collapses down and can be easily stored in the corner of your shop when it isn't needed. Yet, the fully-formed lifting tool offers a boom that extends from 35-1/4 to 45-7/8 inches and a height adjustment ranging from 75 inches up to 84-3/8 inches. The four corners of the base frame are situated on rolling casters with two that lock for an immobilized workpiece accessibility tool. The crane can manage a 2,000-pound lift capacity (1 ton) and features a load-limiting safety valve to prevent overloading the grab hook and creating an unsafe work environment. 

The crane comes with a chain, hook, and ram for a variety of lifting tasks that you may encounter when repairing a vehicle or swapping parts in a customization project. Home shop managers might consider adding a hydraulic table cart, as well. Pittsburgh's 500-pound cart and Haul-Master's 1,000-pound cart are both solid choices for heavy lifting.

The ICON Master Interchangeable Puller Set is a crucial piece of equipment for any home mechanic's garage. It's one of Harbor Freight's newer finds for home mechanics and retails for $220. 

The tool is somewhat unassuming visually, but the vast configuration range that the 64-configuration set delivers is nothing short of revolutionary for making repairs and conducting upgrades. When performing routine body work, you'll often need to remove components for a more accessible view of the piece to be targeted. Getting into the nooks and crannies of a vehicle's inner compartments is a core piece of the work a body shop does. This puller set makes it possible, and on a favorable budget, as well.

The tool features a reversible jaw for both inside and outside pulling configurations, and it's coated in a manganese-phosphate for lasting durability and corrosion resistance. The puller achieves 10 tons of force and can be configured in dozens of setups for removal of all kinds of components including timing gears, wheels, bearings, and more.

The air compressor is a staple of many modern workplaces. It's a key feature in many construction settings, and while roofers and framers might prefer a Milwaukee cordless nailer to one powered by a compressed air tank, the same cannot be said for auto workers who rely on pressured tools. An air compressor delivers reliable power to your air-pumped tools at all times. Specifically, this is a necessary addition for anyone who will engage in painting tasks. Paint sprayers operate with the help of compressed air to push the flow out into a delicate and consistent mist that will provide a superior finish to any car you might work on.

The McGraw 10-Gallon Oil-Lube Portable Air Compressor is a fantastic blend of portable size, great power, and solid budget favorability. At $200, the compressor delivers a maximum of 135 PSI. It's a great option for framers, of course, but the 1.6 horsepower motor is more than capable of handling gentle air spraying and demanding paint driving pressure to your auto shop tools, as well. The compressor features a built-in regulator and a brass universal couple that allows for one-handed connections. The foot stabilizers and rubber tires also reduce vibration. When bought in store, this air compressor even comes with a free air tool included.

Welding will almost certainly arise as a must-have skill in your auto repair shop. Some rust repairs and body smoothing won't require the use of welding tools, but there will come a time when you inevitably run into a larger job that demands a custom-fit replacement piece for the body. This means welding in a new sliver of sheet metal and then going about your shaping and painting tasks. A great welder is therefore an essential piece of shop gear that a body repair and paint enthusiast will need to add into their workspace at some point in time.

The Titanium Unlimited 140 Professional Multi-Process Welder is just that tool. It's listed for $600 and can be purchased online or in person at a Harbor Freight location and can perform a range of welds. The multi-process unit can handle MIG, Stick and TIG (both DC welds), and flux-core welding. The device weighs just 25 pounds for easy mobility around the shop, as well. The versatility of the welder makes it easy for a newer repair hopeful to get into the art and the more experienced welder to utilize multiple techniques to achieve the best results possible on each repair. 

Of course, it's crucial to add in some safety gear to ensure that you are welding responsibly. Harbor Freight carries a three piece Leather Combo Set from Chicago Electric for $22, and a Chicago Electric Standard Auto-Darkening Welding Helmet for $40, as a start.

Repair works and cleaning go hand in hand. There will always be the need to hose down a workpiece or even the workshop itself in some instances. A pressure washer is the perfect tool to quickly wash away dirt, grime, and any other messes that you may create while transforming a project car. The Predator 4,400 PSI, 4.2 GPM, 13 HP Commercial-Duty Pressure Washer from Harbor Freight is a workhorse that won't let you down. Priced at $900, it's a gasoline engine model that won't require a plug or any unruly cords to get going. The included hose extends 50 feet, however, providing ample movement around your vehicle or shop.

This pressure washer includes five different tips featuring a quick connect system for easy changes between flow shapes and pressures. This makes it possible to conduct high intensity washing and delicate spot cleaning without fumbling with the device to make the adjustment.