c/auto-body-repairers

Had a nightmare day with a 2018 F-150 yesterday

Spent 6 hours trying to get the aluminum hood straight after a hail job, it kept oil canning no matter what I did. Anyone else hate working with aluminum or is it just me?

3 comments

claire_hart53•2d ago

Spent 6 hours matching a single candy red paint blend

I was trying to fix a chip on a 2018 Mustang in candy apple red, and it took me 6 tries and a full 4 hours to get the tint right. The pearl additive kept shifting the color weird under different shop lights. Has anyone else struggled with metallic reds taking way longer than expected?

3 comments

terryw67•17d ago

Tried a new blending technique on a metallic silver today, totally botched it at first

I was working on a 2018 Honda Accord rear quarter panel, silver metallic flake. I thought I had my gun set right, 20 psi, 1.3 tip, but the blend line came out super dark and cloudy. Turns out I was spraying too dry, the flake wasn't laying flat. I backed off the air pressure to 18 psi and slowed my passes down, and the second blend melted right in. I learned you really gotta feather that last coat on metallics or it'll look like a patch job. Anyone else struggle with silver metallic blends or have a go-to technique that works?

3 comments

wendysanchez•17d ago

Found out something wild about paint booth filters today

Ngl I was just looking up specs for my booth and found out that a standard intake filter catches about 95% of particles down to 1 micron. But the pre filters most shops use only grab like half of that. I read it on the Donaldson site when I was ordering new ones. Has anyone else checked their filter ratings or do you just grab whatever fits?

3 comments

alexk60•17d ago

The day I walked into a minivan that had been packed full of camping gear for three years

Last Wednesday a guy rolls in with a 2017 Odyssey, says the sliding door is stuck. I pop it open and find out why. The whole back half was stuffed with tents, coolers, sleeping bags, and a broken camp stove. Looked like he just drove home from a trip and never unloaded. Customer said it's been like that since 2021. Took me and my helper 45 minutes just to clear a path to check the track. Found a crushed granola bar wedged in the mechanism. That was the whole problem. Has anyone else seen a car that's basically become a storage unit?

3 comments

dianaanderson•19d ago

Visited an old body shop in Detroit and the whole place still used bondo by hand

Went to a family-run shop in Detroit last Thursday that's been around since the 70s and they were still doing all their filler work with hand spreaders and sanding blocks, no spray guns or DA sanders in sight, and it made me wonder how many of us younger guys are losing the feel for the metal by relying too much on power tools, anyone else ever go back to basics and learn something from the old timers?

4 comments

nora110•21d ago

Stumbled on paint thickness numbers that blew my mind

I was looking up how to fix a bad blend job on a 2018 Honda Accord last night and found a report from a paint testing place. They said the factory clear coat on Japanese cars is usually only 1.5 mils thick on average. That's basically nothing! I've been sanding way more aggressive than I should have on some of these jobs. Has anyone else measured factory paint and been surprised how thin it actually is?

3 comments

the_christopher•21d ago

Switched from foam sanding blocks to durablocks on a 3-stage repair last week

The foam blocks kept leaving tiny waves in my primer, but the durablock cut flat and saved me like 20 minutes of wet sanding. Has anyone else made the switch and noticed a difference on metallic base jobs?

3 comments

craig.mila•22d ago

PSA: That cheap bondo job came back to haunt me in a big way

I did a quick fill on a 1998 Ford F-150 in Nashville about 4 years ago. Used some off-brand filler I got at a flea market to save the customer $30. Last month the guy rolls back in and the whole patch is bubbling up like a bad sunburn. Had to strip it all down to bare metal and start over, cost me 6 hours and a lot of embarrassment. Anyone else learn this lesson the hard way or am I the only one who tried to cut corners?

3 comments

leodavis•23d ago

Took me 5 years to realize I was using my stud welder wrong on aluminum panels

I was pulling too fast and kept blowing through the weld tips, then a seasoned guy at the shop in Denver showed me you gotta slow down and let the heat soak for 2 seconds first. Anyone else have a basic technique click way later than it should have?

3 comments

terryw67•26d ago

Talking to a painter out of Tulsa changed how I see clear coat

Honestly, I used to think any clear coat would hold up if you lay it on thick enough. But last month I was talking to this older painter from Tulsa who does resto work on classics from the 60s. He said he stopped using high-solids clear five years ago because he got tired of seeing his jobs peel after three years in the sun. He stuck with a mid-solids system and wets every coat, says it outlasts the fancy stuff by double the time. At first I thought he was crazy, but I checked my own jobs from 2021 and sure enough the ones with mid-solids still look fresh. Anyone else find that the expensive clear isn't always the best bet in the long run?

3 comments

lucasschmidt•27d ago

Cracked my 5th bumper in a row using the same dent puller before a guy at the shop in Denver pointed out I was spacing the studs wrong

Been doing body work for 8 years and never once questioned why my welds kept snapping until some new kid showed me a 1/4 inch gap works way better than 3/8ths, has anyone else had a simple trick like that totally change how you do something basic?

3 comments

derek_perez•27d ago

Question about that time my frame rail folded on a 2012 F-150

Had a 2012 F-150 roll in Wednesday with a rear quarter hit that looked simple enough. Got it on the rack and started pulling, then the whole frame rail just crumpled inward like wet cardboard. Salt belt truck from New York, frame was rotted through under the coating. Ended up having to cut out a 14 inch section and weld in a new piece from a donor truck. Anyone else run into hidden rust like that on older trucks?

3 comments

harpery47•27d ago

Vent: That customer who watched me sand for 20 minutes straight

Had a guy last Tuesday at my shop in Austin park his lifted F-150 and just stand there... arms crossed, staring at me while I was blocking out a fender. He goes 'you know my cousin can do that in half the time with a DA'. I asked him how his cousin handles feathering edges on a metallic silver and he just shrugged. I've been doing body work for 14 years and I'm still trying to figure out if customers like that are trying to help or just bored. Anyone else get people hovering while you work? How do you handle it without being rude?

3 comments

robinf51•29d ago

Switched from standard body filler to a polyester glazing putty on a tough Ford F-150 repair last week

I had a 2019 Ford F-150 rear quarter panel with a tricky low spot after the main filler work. The standard filler kept pinhole bubbling on me after sanding. A buddy at the local NAPA recommended trying a polyester glazing putty instead of using more spot filler. It spread way thinner, no pinholes at all, and I was done sanding in about 15 minutes. Has anyone else found a specific trick for small imperfections on modern aluminum panels?

3 comments

dianahayes•29d ago

Found a quick fix for aluminum panel warping on a Chevy Silverado door

Had a 2019 Silverado door with real bad warping after the customer tried to straighten it themselves. Instead of the usual heat and hammer method, I used dry ice packs on the backside while pulling from the front with a slide hammer. Took about 20 minutes total and the panel sat flat. Anyone else tried cold shrinking on aluminum body panels?

3 comments

alex_wilson79•1mo ago

That one customer who watched me buff for an hour

Had a guy come in last year with a 98 Civic he'd had since high school. Wanted me to wet sand and buff a single scratch on the quarter panel. He stood there the whole time, maybe 50 minutes, just watching. Didn't say a word, just watched. When I finished he said 'that's the most satisfying thing I've seen since my kids were born.' Paid cash and left. Anyone else get customers who are just weirdly into the process?

3 comments

bettyroberts•1mo ago

Saw a 2012 F-150 come back to life after 3 hours with a stud welder and slide hammer

The owner said it got hit in a parking lot in Tulsa six months ago and the quarter panel looked like a crumpled soda can, but after pulling the dents and blending the paint you'd never know it was ever touched, has anyone else had good luck with stud welders on older Ford body lines?

3 comments

carr.lee•1mo ago

Switched to waterborne paint after fighting solvent for years

Old timer at the supply shop named Carl finally convinced me to try waterborne on a big insurance job last month. He said 'you're wasting time battling that clear for no reason' and handed me a free gallon of Sherwin-Williams basecoat. First door I sprayed came out smoother than any solvent job I'd done in 20 years and dried in half the time. Now I'm kicking myself for not making the switch sooner. Has anyone else had that 'why did I wait so long' moment with a product change?

3 comments

harpery47•1mo ago

I finally hit 500 hours logged in one calendar year on collision work and it kinda surprised me

I mean I never really kept track before but last winter I added it all up from my repair orders and realized that's basically 12 full work weeks just on body panels and paint prep, has anyone else ever totaled up their actual hours and been caught off guard?

3 comments

fiona985•1mo ago

Old timer told me to quit using foam pads on clear coat and he was dead right

Met this guy named Jerry at a shop in Phoenix who's been painting since the 80s. He watched me buff a hood with a foam pad and straight up told me I was wasting time. Switched to a wool pad like he said and cut my buffing time from 20 minutes per panel down to 8. The clear came out way smoother too with no hazing. Anyone else get stubborn about switching tools and regret it?

3 comments

joel_martinez•1mo ago

That quarter panel replacement that turned into a full afternoon

I started a quarter panel job on a 2018 Civic this morning thinking I'd be done by lunch. Three hours later I was still fighting with spot welds that just would not let go. Turns out the previous shop had used some super hard aftermarket welds that my regular drill bit couldn't touch. Switched to a carbide bit and finally got through but man, what should have been a 2 hour job ate up almost 5. Anybody else run into mystery welds that just wreck your schedule?

3 comments

faith_king•1mo ago

Spent $400 on a used spray booth filter. Biggest mistake of my year.

I thought I was being smart saving money buying a used filter off a guy on Facebook Marketplace. He said it was barely used and still had life left. Got it home and it was basically clogged with old paint dust after just 2 jobs. My compressor was working overtime and my finish came out looking like crap. Had to spend another $300 on a new proper filter from the supplier anyway. Anyone else get burned trying to cheap out on booth supplies?

3 comments

the_spencer•1mo ago

My first boss told me to never trust a paint meter on a quarter panel

Back in the early 2000s, I was a new guy at a shop in Tacoma. My boss, a man named Carl who'd been doing this since the 70s, saw me checking a used car we were about to buy. I was using a new paint meter on the quarter panel and it read clean. He just shook his head and said, 'Kid, they always fill that spot with mud. You gotta check the door jamb and the roof edge.' Sure enough, I pulled the interior panel and found a fist-sized glob of filler behind the wheel well. He was right. It was a lesson in knowing which spots on a car are easy to hide damage. That old-school knowledge saved me from a bad buy more than once. Do you guys have any other 'tells' for hidden damage that you always check first?

3 comments

the_richard•1mo ago

Just had a paint reaction on a 2018 Ford F-150 in the booth today

I was doing a full respray on the bed side and the clear started to wrinkle right after the second coat... it looked like orange peel but way worse. I had to stop, sand the whole panel back to primer, and switch to a different brand of clear coat. Has anyone else run into this with the newer Ford factory base coats?

3 comments