The Modern Auto Body Repair Shop
Most of us don’t want to visit
the inside of an body repair shop. Sometimes we can often smell the solvents being emitted by vehicle the repair shop as we drive by and wonder
how those people can make it through a work day always being accurate and precise in both matching the color of car panels and
repairing truck, auto and
s.u.v bodies
after vehicle collisions.
Modern body shops now seem to be uniformly
clean, well laid out and well lit. As well
many body shops are laid out in several distinct separate staging areas. Vehicles
are estimated in one area, body work done in another, electronic repairs in yet
another area, painted in a very separate area, and finally detailed and
presented to the customer in a display area.
If the vehicle has major damage, then it is moved to a disassembly area and
onto a frame machine. Unibody construction is utilized by
most autos today. Unibody is a an automotive and mechanical body term which describes how sheet metal is stamped, formed and
welded together to form the structural portion of the car or truck body.
The purpose of the “frame machine” is not to straighten the car frame
now– rather it is to straighten the unibody construction of the vehicle
Measuring the vehicle body for correct unibody
alignment is more than critical. As little as fraction of an inch error is all that is allowed by most car,
s.u.v. and truck manufacturers. Laser measuring systems are used by
many body shops along with the frame machine to ensure that everything is
straightened accurately to the millimeter.
With the unibody of the vehicle straight, the truck, car or s.u.v. moves to the
metal work area where new sheet metal is mounted and damages area straightened.
This work is still done by skilled technicians and tradesmen using hammers and
dollies, but even the work done by body shop technicians has been changed by
modern technologies. Overhead vacuum lines are connected to the sanders and grinders to pull dust and dirt away from this part of the
shop. Modern body facilities can
remain very clean and dust free- indeed modern electronics, and even the most
modern hi tech electronics of hybrid vehicles demand this.
With the entire metal straight, it’s on to the paint preparation area,
commonly referred to as “paint prep”. When sanding and spraying the paint primers, quality shops will use
dust extraction systems to remove the dust. Infrared lighting systems may be
used to cure primer paint quickly and properly. These infrared lights can
shorten the cure time from 24 hours remarkably to as little as 20 minutes. All
of these procedures both help you to get a higher quality assured job and get
you back on the road in a minimal time span.
Here is a video of a body shop.
Painting the final colors and clear coats is
done in a paint booth. There are many types and brands of paint booths, however
it is generally accepted the best are the “downdraft” units where
fresh filtered air enters the top of any
underspray and the booth is pulled downward and out through grates in the
floor. The downdraft procedure of paint booths can produce the best and most
consistent of paint finishes. In addition a well trained operator can make a
great difference in final paint and appearance quality and consistency. A dust
free paint booth of any design is better than a dirty and dusty paint booth of the highest end. Before spending your money or committing
yourself to the job or repairs it is always best to ask to examine several
examples of the shops work on several vehicles. In addition ask to see finished
examples of several different body types– cars, vans, suvs and trucks. Look for smooth finishes with minimal dust specs
and colors that match from panel to panel. These are the signs of a quality
paint job done by a skilled and professional
painter.
It goes without saying that a professional paint shop will be proud of their
faculties- the layout, equipment, training of their staff– and most of all
their people.
Such a shop should have no trouble, barring practical logistics, of allowing
you a tour of their facilities. After all of their
careful efforts they should be most proud to give you a tour and point out
their strong points and capabilities as well as examples of their finished
product.. Pittsburgh dent masters will remove most dents without the need for painting.
It’s your vehicle that is being
repaired– whether it is your new S.U.V, car, bus, van or truck.
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