Utilizing Your Air Compressor
It would be hard to imagine a body shop that could work without compressed air. In fact, it could be said that the heart of your shop’s production lies in your air compressor
– a sometimes misunderstood and often neglected unit.
From Wreck to Right
It’s a dark stormy night. You realize that you’ve strayed from the main paved road and are now traveling down a gravel one. The road is soft. Your vehicle isn’t handling well. It’s raining so hard that the car’s windshield wipers can’t keep up, and the ditches on both sides of the road are very
Strategic Partnerships
No business exists in a vacuum, least of all a collision repair shop.
Tool Time: Common Hand Tools
Can you imagine finishing a weld with a file and emery cloth or sandpaper? Can you imagine prepping a panel for plastic filler with a piece of sandpaper powered only by elbow
grease? Can you imagine removing 25 different types of screws and bolts with a socket and a screwdriver – again, powered by
only elbow grease?
Straightening Modern Metal: Using Heat
Using heat to facilitate the straightening of a modern automobile or light truck is very tempting.
Steel the One: Aluminum and Plastics
Fifteen years ago, most of us would have scoffed at the idea of amass-produced, all-aluminum auto, such as the Acura NSX, or a production automobile with exterior plastic panels, such as the Saturn.
Sharpen Your Sectioning Skills
Sectioning is a common procedure in hundreds of collision-repair shops across the country. Most of those shops make a conscientious effort to section according to the rules;
some shops make up their own rules.
Selecting a MIG Welder
Before purchasing a MIG welder – or any welder – you must first determine which machine has the right capabilities for your shop. The Q & A that follows will help you determine whether a Gas Metal Arc welder (or MIG welder) is the right machine for you, and it will also aid in your selecting the proper MIG equipment.
Super Tech Tips
The best weapon, as always, is knowledge.
The Daily Grind: Methods for Grinding
Grinding methods, like virtually everything else in collision repair, have certainly changed.