Door Skin Installation: A Bonding Experience
While some OEMs have been bonding door skins for more than eight years, the repair is just now becoming an accepted practice in body shops. In fact, with the products and procedures available today, technicians can duplicate the same type of adhesive bonding that’s being used on door skin panels from the OEMs.
The Heat Is On: Infrared Equipment
Since the average body shop paints an entire vehicle just 10 percent of the time, it makes sense to focus your energy — and that of your curing system — on only the areas refinished. How? Infrared equipment can be applied just where and when you need it, helping to increase your shop’s efficiency
More Than a Metal Box: Today’s Spraybooths have Evolved into More than Simple Square Boxes
Because all the high-tech options can be hard to choose from, it’s important to know which ones best suit your shop and your budget. If you spend wisely now, you can avoid paying dearly — in redos and unexpected bills — later.
Prepare to Paint
Paint preparation is more difficult and complicated than it was a couple decades ago. To keep your shop as productive and profitable as possible, keep yourself up to date on the latest paint products.
Pulling for You: Straightening
Straightening isn’t simply about yanking the vehicle until it pops back into shape — it’s about understanding how the vehicle reacted to the impact and what you need to do to bring it back to pre-accident condition. It requires thought — not just action.
Restoring Corrosion Protection
Just because you’ve meticulously measured and pulled a vehicle back to spec doesn’t mean your job is done. One of the most important tasks in bringing a car back to pre-accident condition is still at hand: restoring corrosion protection.
In SOPs We Trust
Standard operating procedures could offer a body shop owner more freedom and the ability to attract new insurance business by creating ‘verifiable’ trust.
Go Ahead, Make My Spray! HVLP Spray-gun Technology
HVLP spray-gun technology has come a long way since Grandma’s vacuum cleaner with a spray-gun attachment. Despite all the advances, though, you won’t shoot to thrill unless you pick your guns wisely and adjust them correctly.
Industrialization of the Industry
You don’t have to manufacture automobiles, guns or hamburgers to take advantage of the industrialized process. Such assembly-line concepts can be applied to vehicle repairs, too. Some shops have gone so far as to specialize in departments — paint, metal, mechanical — but they could go even further.
The Science of Paint
Ever wonder about the people formulating today’s paint products — and if they have any clue how their creations affect refinishers? Wonder no more. Some of the industry’s leading paint chemists answer the questions on everyone’s minds.