c/auto-body-repairers

8

the_rowan•3h ago

Just ticked over 5000 hours in the booth and noticed something weird about how I mix clear coat now

I hit 5000 hours of spray time last month and realized I stopped measuring hardener ratios months ago because my hand just knows the feel now, has anyone else found their prep routine changing that much after a certain number of jobs?

18

wrenstone•1d ago

Tried using a heat gun on a dented fender and it actually worked

Had this 2012 Civic with a nasty crease on the rear quarter panel from a shopping cart. Pulled out my Wagner heat gun I use for shrinking electrical conduit, warmed the area for about 2 minutes, then popped it from behind with a rubber mallet. The dent came out almost completely flat - saved the customer $350 vs replacing the whole panel. Anybody else use heat tools for stuff they're not designed for?

14

sandra715•2d ago

Changed my mind about using a DA sander for heavy paint removal after talking to an old-timer at a shop in St. Louis

I always thought you had to use a grinder with a 36 grit disc to strip clear coat fast. This guy in his 60s saw me at a parts store last month and told me I was making more work for myself. He showed me his setup with a DA sander and some 80 grit paper, said it takes longer but gives you a flatter surface to start with. I tried it on a 2010 Camaro hood that had peeling clear, and he was right the finish after primer was way smoother. No deep gouges to block out saved me like 2 hours of sanding. Has anyone else switched to DA for stripping instead of grinding?

20

carr.willow•2d ago

Why does nobody talk about how bad some shops are at color matching?

I stopped by a shop in Portland last week to grab some supplies and noticed a customer's silver Accord sitting out front with a rear bumper that was three shades off from the rest of the car... it was so obvious even from across the lot. The manager came out and acted like he couldn't see it, blamed it on the lighting. Has anyone else run into shops that just don't bother with blending or using a spectrophotometer?

19

barbara399•3d ago

I stopped using Bondo on every dent after a mentor showed me a stud welder in 2019

Used to think filler was the only way to fix a panel, but pulling with a slide hammer leaves way less work to sand down. Anybody else dump the filler for a welder on smaller dings?

18

rowank69•3d ago

Just realized PPG has a color matching guarantee that actually pays out if they get it wrong

I was flipping through their warranty info online last night and saw they'll reimburse you for the paint and labor if their camera match is off by more than a tolerance. Never knew that was a thing. Had a 2023 Toyota pearl yesterday that took me three sprayouts to get close. Anyone ever actually file a claim on that?

26

fiona502•19d ago

Took forever to figure out a door alignment issue on a 2018 F-150

Spent three full afternoons chasing a door that would not shut right after a side panel replacement. Turned out the A-pillar was twisted by 3mm from a prior accident I never even thought to check. Has anyone else wasted time on hidden frame tweaks like this?

12

cameron724•21d ago

Appreciation post: That old school paint booth at my buddy's shop in Tacoma

Honestly, I spent last Saturday helping a friend sand down a 1990 Ford Bronco and we used his grandpa's old Binks spray booth from like the 80s. Tbh I thought newer was always better but that thing laid down a single stage coat so smooth I barely had to buff it. Ngl it made me wonder if some of this new gear is just overcomplicated for basic jobs. Has anyone else had good luck with older booth setups for small projects?

26

webb.val•21d ago

Unpopular opinion: Skip that fancy $400 paint mixing system I bought off a Snap-on truck

Blew $400 on one of those digital paint mixing scales from Snap-on about 6 months ago. Thought it would save me time matching colors for collision jobs. Thing gave me wrong ratios three times on a single Ford Escape repair at my shop in Toledo. I'm sticking with my old graduated cups and a good eye - has anyone else had issues with those digital mixers?

7

stone.evan•23d ago

Talked to an old school painter who changed how I look at clear coats

I was at a shop over in Charlotte last week dropping off some parts, and this guy in his 60s who's been painting since the 70s started talking to me about clear coat failures. He said most of what I was blaming on bad prep was actually just cheap clear that was too thin from the factory. He walked me over to his booth and showed me a Civic he was about to scuff down, pointed out how the clear had this weird orange peel pattern that wasn't a spray error but the formulation breaking down. Said he sees it mostly on Honda and Nissan stuff from around 2010 to 2015. I always figured it was me doing something wrong when I see that hazy look come back after buffing. Has anyone else noticed certain years or makes just have clear that degrades faster no matter what you do?

26

miles_grant35•23d ago

Spent 4 hours chasing a ground fault on a 2018 Silverado tail light...

Turned out to be a tiny crack in the plastic housing letting moisture in, but I had already replaced the bulb, checked the fuse box, and traced the whole harness twice. By the time I figured it out I was already an hour past closing time and my back was killing me from leaning over the bumper. Has anyone else had a simple electrical issue turn into a whole afternoon because you overlooked something stupid like that?

1

sage_perry•23d ago

Old timer told me I was sanding wrong for like 20 minutes

Guy who's been painting since the 80s watched me block a fender and said I was using too much pressure and wearing out my paper in half the time. He showed me how to let the paper do the work with just the weight of the block. Cut my sanding time on a whole car by maybe 45 minutes on the next job. Anyone else get told some basic thing that totally changed how you work?

17

miles_grant35•23d ago

Old-timer swore by using dawn soap to prep bumpers before paint

He said it cuts wax better than any prep-sol I'd buy... tried it on a Honda Civic last Tuesday and got fisheyes so bad I had to strip it down and start over. Has anyone else had this backfire or did I mess up the ratio?

8

tessa_roberts1•24d ago

Stop telling new guys to start with a $1000 paint gun, that's terrible advice

Overheard a shop owner bragging about his new Iwata setup to a kid who just finished trade school, and I had to bite my tongue because throwing that kind of money at a beginner is just gonna make them afraid to even pull the trigger for the first 6 months.

30

shane_ross•24d ago

Guy at a pick-n-pull in Phoenix showed me how to pop dents with a heat gun and compressed air

I was hunting for a bumper cover and this older fella saw me struggling with a crease on my own panel. He walked me over to a workbench and demonstrated on a scrap door within two minutes. Has anyone else tried that trick or am I late to the party?

19

margaretf40•25d ago

Just had a paint job fail on me in a hilariously dumb way

I was working on a 2010 Ford F-150 in my shop near Columbus last Tuesday. Mixed up some pearl clear coat and didn't shake the base enough (rookie mistake, I know). It came out looking like a bad case of orange peel crossed with a streaky mess. Had to sand it all back down and start over, which ate up about 4 hours of my day. Anyone else ever have a paint job go sideways because you skipped a simple step?

11

valwest•27d ago

I finally learned the hard way about mixing paint brands on a repair

I was at a shop in Salem doing a quick blend on a 2015 Honda Civic and ran out of my usual PPG basecoat. Decided to grab a can of Sherwin-Williams from the shelf to finish the panel since it was the same color code. Yeah, turned out the metallic flake sat totally different and I had to sand the whole quarter panel and start over. Has anyone else had a bad experience mixing brands like that?

10

jesse84•29d ago

Tried pulling a dent with dry ice and a heat gun on a 2002 Civic and the paint cracked in three places

Everyone in the shop keeps swearing by the dry ice method for small dings, so I gave it a shot on a rear quarter panel. Figure I'd heat the area gentle, then hit it with the ice. But the paint was already fragile from sun damage in the Arizona heat for 15 years, and it just spiderwebbed on me right there. Has anyone else found that trick only works on newer cars with non-faded clear coat?

28

leo_campbell•1mo ago

Shop owner told me to stop using seam sealer on inner panels - changed everything after that one job

Had a job last month on a 2018 F-150 that got side swiped. Popped the inner bedside and found the factory seam sealer was already cracking. Old timer at the next bay told me he's been skipping seam sealer on inner panels for 10 years because it just traps moisture. Tried it on that truck and honestly the panel fit better without all that extra goop. Has anyone else gotten pushback from customers when they ask about missing seam sealer on inner repairs?

19

black.margaret•1mo ago

That painter in Phoenix told me I was wasting time on color sanding

I was wet sanding a jet black hood at a shop in Phoenix about 6 months ago and this veteran painter walked up and said 'you're wasting your life chasing perfection on factory clear.' He argued that modern clear coats are too thin to color sand without burning through, and that good spray technique beats sanding every time. Has anyone else had an old timer call them out mid-job like that?

14

jennifer_west•1mo ago

Had a customer yell at me about my primer choice last fall

I was working on a 2010 Ford F-150 in October, doing a full bed repaint. The customer came by to check on things and saw I was using a standard epoxy primer. He got all fired up, said I was cutting corners and that any real body man knows you need a high-build primer for truck beds that see real work. At first I wanted to tell him to mind his business, but he had a point. I swapped to a high-build primer, wet sanded it smooth, and the final coat came out way better. That truck bed looked glassy for months after he got it back. Now I always ask customers what they haul before I pick my primer. Anyone else run into customers who actually knew their stuff and made you better?

11

the_blair•1mo ago

Got burned by a bad blend job in Minneapolis last week

I was working on a silver Toyota Camry at a shop in Minneapolis and thought I matched the paint perfectly. Next morning in the sun it was a full shade off and I had to redo the whole quarter panel. Cost me $250 in materials and 4 extra hours I didn't plan for. Anyone else had a paint match go wrong because of bad lighting in their booth?

4

the_vera•1mo ago

That body shop in Santa Fe that tried to charge me $800 for a door skin replacement

Overheard a guy at the parts counter telling his buddy he'd never use a used door again because it's more trouble than it's worth. Man I've been swapping used doors for 15 years and I pulled a perfect match off a 2018 silver Accord at the salvage yard for $150. Takes maybe 2 hours with a buddy and a wrench set. No paint blending needed. Am I the only one who thinks the whole skin and paint approach is just padding the bill?

7

palmer.henry•1mo ago

That one customer in Tucson who taught me about filler thickness

Had a guy bring in a 96 Civic with a dented rear quarter panel. He was super particular about the repair. He pulled out a thickness gauge and checked my filler layer after I sanded it. Said anything over 1/8 inch will crack in the Arizona heat within a year. That stuck with me so now I always check before primer. Anyone else run into customers who teach you something you still use?

18

rowank69•1mo ago

Shoutout to the guy who told me to check the grounding strap before chasing electrical gremlins

Got a 2018 F-150 in the shop last Tuesday that had this intermittent issue with the taillights flickering. Spent like 2 hours swapping relays, checking fuses, tracing wires. Finally called a buddy who works at a dealer and he just says "did you check the ground strap at the frame?". Sure enough, it was corroded half to hell. Cleaned it up, problem gone. Felt like an idiot but learned something. Has anyone else had a simple ground fix save them a ton of time?