For any company to enjoy success, they have to take care of their consumers. The same is true in the auto industry and one are it is highlighted is in after collision repairs.

When a vehicle is involved in a collision, more often than not, it will need major repairs which could include the replacement of selected components. In replacing these components, repair mechanics need to know the exact specifications so as to bring back a vehicle to a condition it was in before the collision.

The following is my generalization of restoration shops that I have owned, seen or worked at. There are exceptions to the rule. Please don't beat me up if I have rolled your shop into the mix when you are an exception. But, if you do see yourself, I suggest you get down to your neighborhood junior college and take a course or too in business. One of the great myths is that we each think our business is so unique, we can't learn from a "regular" business class. Well after much instruction and exposure to the business side of things I can tell you, business is BUSINESS. Whether you are running a liqueur store, a cat house, or a body shop, they are all exactly the same. Sales are SALES, period.

Where is the dent and how big is it? These may be deciding factors in how you repair.
If your panel needs is shrinking. You can do this in many different ways, again depending on where and what size the dent is.

You could use:

A torch. This can provide the most heat for shrinking, consequently the most DAMAGE.

A shrinker attachment on a spot or MIG welder. This is a great way to shrink small dents or thin metals.

Gun cleaning should be done as soon as possible after spraying. The longer you leave the paint materials in the gun the more difficult it will be to clean.
Be sure to wear the appropriate protection while handling solvents. Gloves, safety glasses and breath protection are highly recommended.

Remove the cup, air cap, fluid tip and needle. As with any gun you need to be VERY careful when removing the fluid tip. If the wrench slips off it's grip and nicks the tip the gun will not spray properly even with just a slight nick on the tip. With a Sata that could cost you over $150 so hold the gun (any gun) and the wrench securely when you loosen or tighten the fluid tip.

When you have a large flat panel that is flexing the first thing you need to do is find out why. Sometimes you can stop it, other times you can’t. But if you can stop it, you’ll have a much easier time with the body filler work. Hoods, decklids, and the roof are particularly difficult because the heat and weight of the plastic filler can have an effect on the metal. The good news is many times it is very easy to repair. First off, there is no such thing as a “flat” panel. All panels that appear flat actually have a slight crown or gentle bow up in the middle. Go to a flat panel and lay a straight edge across it. You will see that the straight edge in not touching the panel at the on the outer ends. If the panel were perfectly flat it would appear to the eye to be concave. It would also have no “body” and flex very easily. This is the problem with your large flexing panel; it has “lost” its crown and is now weak and flexible.

This "basics" is for a fiberglass repair where a piece is missing. It could be used even if the piece isn't missing, but just cracked badly. What you do is thin the cracked area very thin so you lay the mat over the top just as you would in the description below referring to a missing piece. This is not a very difficult project.

First you need to grind or sand with very course paper like 40 or 36 feathering the fiberglass out to thin it on the front and the back along the edge of the missing part. Don't thin it too much, at least not more than a half inch or so away from the missing part. At the edge you can go right down to a knife edge thin, but at about an inch or so you should let it remain pretty much the way it is. Taper it out to almost the original thickness within that inch. Just sand it down real good after that many more inches away on both inner and outer. Next, cut your fiberglass MAT, not cloth but MAT. Fiberglass mat is the stuff that looks like it was shot out of a chopper gun with no particular patterns, just many many pieces of fiberglass strands laying over one another to form a "mat" of fiberglass. The cloth is the one that has all the fibers laying in perfect rows in a crisscross pattern. The cloth will ALWAYS show up later, the mat is basically the same as the car was made with so it works very well in patches. You want to cut many pieces of this mat starting with a number like three or four that are very close the size of the missing part, even a little smaller. Then make a few that are a little bigger, then a little bigger then a little bigger. All of these should be in the area of an 1/8" to a 1/4" bigger than the last. Next using 2" masking tape make yourself you "mold." Stick the tape on the back side across the missing area. Now, mix up your fiberglass resin with hardener and using a little tray one of the smallest pieces of mat you have on the tray and pour a little resin on it. Using a short bristle brush "poke" at it with the ends of the bristles "pushing" the resin into the mat. You will see it become transparent when fully soaked with resin. At that point lay it down in the middle of the missing area. Then soak another piece and then another when the middle of the missing area is covered (you may not use all the small pieces you have cut) start going out with the larger pieces. You don't want the middle to be too thick or you will be grinding it all off later. So right as it is getting thick you move to the next size larger. All the while you are "poking" at the new pieces lightly with the ends of the bristles to push all the air out from between the pieces of mat, forcing in the resin.

Color choice is so much more than simply picking a color because you ‘like” it. Not every color “works” on every car. Some will argue “to each his own” or “It’s your car, paint it what ever you want”. This is true, but you are painting it to look better, right? Why just get color on it for the sake of getting color on it. Why paint your favorite color on it when your favorite color is not going to make the car look it’s best?

We have all heard that black will show waves or poor body work. White on the other hand hides them. This is just the start of color choice. We can agree that even though you may love black cars, painting a wavy old beast a cut and buffed black would be wrong. It goes beyond “taste”, it is just plain wrong, if your desire is a nice looking car.

Being HVLP and low VOC products are the way the industry’s going I will be referring to them in this discussion on painting and paint guns. Most all basic issues dealing with HVLP can be applied to conventional guns, atomization is atomization. The HVLP just arrives at it differently.

The object of the spray gun is to break up the primer/sealer/paint/clear (I will call this “PSPC” from here out) into small particles and lay them in neat little rows on the panel being PSPRed. So the whole outcome rests on how well the gun is doing this. Picture the droplets of PSPC coming out of the fluid tip of the gun and then the air “slapping” them into smaller droplets.

There are many different types (or more correctly, technologies) of products you can use in the restoration or repair of your vehicle. Some have a variety of uses while others are very limited with only a few of specific uses. Proper choice of products can help you get the job done faster and/or help with the longevity of the repair.

Let’s start with some basic definitions. I couldn’t possibly know every paint manufactures terminology or product use. These are generalities and should be used as a guide only to then read the tech sheets of the products you have chosen for proper use. These tech sheets can be found at the jobber and are given away free. Or most manufactures have them on line, USE THEM. They are a wealth of information and can save you many headaches. You don’t need to read every word in the mind numbing text, they usually have a “product at a glance” or something like that will cut to the chase and give you what you need.

Let me start with safety, DO NOT SKIP, YOU NEED TO READ THIS. The UV rays that are produced at the weld can and will cause damage to your eyes you know that. But did you know that it WILL damage to your skin as well? I have gotten "sun burn" from welding. I have only "peeled" from regular sunburn a few times in my life (I have a dark Portuguese complexion) I have peeled from MIG welding more! This was a long time ago, I would never let that happen again. Wear a light long sleeve cotton shirt at the very least. You want jeans and high top boots on too. Wear welding gloves, go down to the local auto parts or hardware store and get yourself some nice SOFT gloves. Some are made so stiff that it is hard to work in them. I got some at ACE hardware that are dang near sensual ?. Get a good helmet, I have a Cherokee ( http://www.accustrike.com/ ) that is only about $90.00. It is a hands free helmet that you open the shaded lens with your chin! I have had it for about 15 years without a problem. When open it gives you a full 4x5-inch or so CLEAR lens, unlike the "self darkening" helmets that are always shaded. You can flip up the lens and grind anytime you want. I want the full control of when to see through a shade or not. I highly recommend this helmet. Also, another thing that I have only begun using a year or so ago (I hate thinking about how long I didn't use it) a welding respirator. A 3M NOISH approved are available at ACE hardware for about $18.00. If you are welding with weld-thru or "E" coat primer you are making ZINC FUMES! And can get "zinc fume fever" VERY easily. Even when welding clean metal, you are still making fumes that are hazardous. Be sure the respirator fits under your helmet. The Cherokee helmet for instance doesn't have room for a cartridge mask so a single throwaway is all that will work. HEAR ME NOW BELIEVE ME LATER, PROTECT YOURSELF. Even if you don't care about the protection because you are such a bad-a$$, do it because you will produce a better weld. It is hard to lay a nice bead when you have a hot molten ball of steel in your shoe or pants. ?