c/auto-body-repairers

Rust repair on a 2012 F-150 last week made me miss the old days of actual steel

I was cutting out rot near the cab corner and thinking about how we used to just slap a patch panel on with rivets and seam sealer, now it's all this fancy welding and epoxy primer. Has anyone else noticed newer trucks seem to rust faster than the 90s models, or is it just the salt they're using up here in Minnesota?

Customer said my primer was too thick and I didn't listen at first

Guy brings in a 2018 F-150 with a rocker panel job. I shoot my usual two coats of high-build, block it smooth, looks fine. He comes back to pick it up and points out orange peel under the shop lights I missed. Said my primer was laid on like cake frosting. I thinned it down 15% more than my normal mix on the next job and that stuff leveled out flat as glass. Anyone else had to re-learn how to thin their primer based on a customer's eye?

Stud welder gave out mid-job on a Toyota Corolla door

I was about halfway through pulling a dent on a 2017 Corolla door last Tuesday when my stud welder just quit. No spark, no noise, nothing. I had about 12 studs left to go and the dent was still pretty deep in the middle. I tried swapping tips and checking the ground clamp but it was dead as a doornail. Ended up having to finish the pull using my glue pulling setup instead, which actually took twice as long. Took the welder apart that night and found a broken wire inside the handle. Soldered it back together and it's working fine now, but I'm thinking about picking up a backup unit for days like that. Anyone else have their hammer or welder crap out on a job where you really needed it?

The way some guys treat aluminum filler is driving me crazy

I've been noticing more and more cars coming through with repairs that just don't hold up, and it's almost always because people are applying filler way too thick. Like, I had a '99 Civic come in last week with a quarter panel that someone just glopped a half inch of filler onto instead of pulling the dent. By the time I got it, it was all cracked and bubbling. It's not just hobbyists either, I've seen shop guys do it to save time on metal work. But the thing is, filler is supposed to be a skim coat, not a structural fix. I know it takes longer to hammer and dolly stuff straight, but you're just creating more work down the line. Has anyone else run into this with sublet work coming back to bite you?

Tried waterborne paint thinner on a classic car restoration and surprised myself

Been painting mostly solvent base for 10 years. Decided to try waterborne on a '67 Mustang last month at my buddy's shop near Nashville. The color match came out way better than I expected, but the drying time threw me off completely. Took almost twice as long between coats. Has anyone else made this switch and found a trick to speed up the flash time?

My neighbor the retired mechanic swore by using a heat gun on stubborn bolts instead of a torch

After fighting a rusted control arm bolt for two hours with a torch on a 2005 Ford F-150 last Saturday, I finally tried his method and had it loose in under 5 minutes, so has anyone else found a use for a heat gun that surprised them?

Had a conversation with a painter that changed my mind about wet sanding

I've been in collision repair for about 6 years now, and I always thought wet sanding before clear coat was a waste of time. But last Tuesday, a painter named Dave who's been doing this for 25 years at a shop near downtown Portland called me out on it. He said, 'You're just hiding your mistakes under more paint, not fixing them.' That hit different because I realized he was right. I was spending extra time laying on thick coats to cover up scratches instead of taking 10 minutes to wet sand and get a smooth base. I tried his method on a 2018 Honda Civic rear quarter panel last Friday and the finish came out way cleaner with less orange peel. Has anyone else had an old timer call them out on a shortcut they thought was fine?

The customer who told me I was buffing too slow and to just use a wool pad dry

I laughed at first, but then I tried it on a test panel and learned exactly why you don't skip compound on a dry scratch - $400 later and a repaint that I had to eat half the labor on, anyone else ever get advice from someone who's never held a DA?

Tried a stud welder vs glue pullers on a big dent this week

I had a 2015 F-150 with a dent on the rear quarter panel that was about the size of a dinner plate. No crease, just a shallow push. I usually go straight for the glue pullers because they're fast and don't leave marks to grind off. But this time the metal felt a bit thick and the glue kept popping off after two pulls. So I switched to my old stud welder and spent the extra 20 minutes tacking pins and pulling it out bit by bit. Ended up needing way less filler than I thought, maybe a skim coat across two inches. The glue would have left me with a thicker mud job and more time sanding. Anyone else find stud welding worth the setup time on shallow dents like that?

Saw something smart at a shop in Nashville last week

I was visiting a buddy's body shop in Nashville last week and noticed he had these big industrial fans pointed at the paint booth from outside. I asked him what they were for and he said he uses them to pull fresh air in faster between coats. It cuts his dry time by like 20 minutes per panel. He also had this setup with a dehumidifier running right next to the booth. I never thought about controlling air flow that way. It seems obvious now but I always just waited around for paint to cure. Has anyone else tried using extra fans or dehumidifiers to speed up your cycle time?

Rant: Does anyone else's best days and worst days look identical on paper?

Last Tuesday I had a 2017 Silverado come in for a bedside replacement... looked like a clean job on the estimate, 4 hours book time. I got it done in 3.5 and the paint matched perfect, customer was thrilled. Then Thursday I pulled in a 2020 Civic with a simple bumper scuff and it turned into a nightmare - the clips were all broken, the reinforcement bar was bent underneath, and I burned 6 hours on what should have been a 2 hour job. Two days that looked the same on the work order but went totally different. Has anyone else had a week where the jobs you thought would be easy kicked your tail and the hard ones went smooth? Or is it just me?

Remember using lead filler instead of modern stuff?

I still catch myself reaching for the lead rod when I'm doing a big dent on an old Ford roof, but after getting a nasty cough back in 2018 I switched to all aluminum-based filler and honestly it flows way better, has anyone else had to retrain their hands after making that swap?

TIL a raccoon can open a body shop bay door in 45 seconds flat

Came in Monday morning to find a raccoon chilling in a customer's fender, he'd waltzed right through the side door I left cracked. Now I triple-check every latch before I lock up, anyone else have wildlife break into their shop?

Had to choose between a used Snap-On frame machine and a new Chinese one, went with the Snap-On

My old frame machine finally gave out after 15 years. Looked at a used Snap-On for $8k or a new off-brand for $5k from a supplier in Chicago. Took the Snap-On gamble cause I've seen too many guys struggle with alignment issues on the cheaper ones. Paid off so far, did a unibody pull yesterday and it tracked perfectly. Anyone else have luck with older professional gear over new budget stuff?

That harbor freight stud welder I laughed at actually saved my ass

Picked up one of those cheap spot weld dent pullers last year just to test it on a beater fender. Figured it would crap out after 2 pulls but I got 47 dents out of a 2010 Civic door before the tip gave up. Has anyone else had better luck with budget tools than they expected?

Thought traditional paint was always better until a buddy showed me his waterborne job

I was all about solvent based paint for years, swore it was the only way to get a deep shine. Then my friend painted a 2003 Honda Civic with waterborne and it looked perfect after 6 months no clear coat failure. Anyone else had that switch up on what they thought was legit?

Blew $150 on a fancy paint gun that sprayed like a garden hose

I bought one of those high-end SATA guns last spring thinking it would save me time. First job with it, the fan pattern was all over the place and I had to strip and redo a whole fender. Turns out the air cap was fake or something, because my old $60 gun from Harbor Freight works better every time. Has anyone else gotten burned on counterfeit spray equipment from online sellers?

Wasted $600 on a 'pro' paint booth rental - total scam

That customer who told me his paint job should only cost $200 because he saw it on YouTube

Guy walks into my shop with a 1997 Civic covered in duct tape and wants a full respray for $200 because some influencer did it with rattle cans, so I handed him my graveyard of failed DIY paint jobs and asked which one he wanted to match.

Unpopular opinion: that 2018 Silverado I painted came out better before I wet sanded it

Ngl, I spent 3 hours wet sanding a 2018 Chevy Silverado in Tauranga last month and the gloss actually looked worse than the orange peel I started with, has anyone else found that factory clear coats don't respond to sanding like older paint jobs do?

That rust repair on a Chevy Silverado bed taught me a lesson

Last month I had a 2015 Silverado come in. Rust hole behind the wheel well. I tried using patch panels and filler. Looked good for a week, then the filler cracked. Ended up cutting the whole section out and welding in new metal. Took twice as long but zero comebacks. Anyone else stopped using filler on structural rust spots?

Found a trick for blending metallic paint on a 2018 Honda Accord that saved me a respray

I was fighting a bad metallic blend on a rear quarter panel for 2 hours, then an old timer at the local paint supply shop said to spray the blend area at half the pressure and it laid down perfect, has anyone else tried dropping PSI on tough metallics?

I finally stopped fighting with clear coat peel after a tip from an old painter in Detroit

Was at a shop in Dearborn last month picking up supplies and this guy in his 60s saw me grab a new roll of masking tape. He asked if I ever wet sand between coats of clear and I said no, figured it was only for base. He told me to try 1500 grit wet on the second coat of clear, just a light pass before the final coat. Did it on a silver modern Charger hood last week and the peel just vanished. Has anyone else tried wet sanding between clear coats on modern waterborne paint?

Debate: Should we paint panels on the car or off? I've seen both go wrong.

Last month I had a 2018 Civic in my shop here in Austin. Fender bender on the driver side. My old mentor always said pull the panel, paint it off the car for the cleanest finish. So I pulled the fender, painted it on a stand, and it came out perfect. But when I put it back, the gap to the door was off by a millimeter. My coworker Dave swears by masking and painting on the car because the panel settles in its natural position. But I've seen that get overspray on surrounding parts and blend issues in direct sun. Now I'm stuck. Which way do you guys lean for side panels on modern cars with tight tolerances?

Old timer at the shop swore by using a heat gun on plastic bumpers, cost me a repaint

Guy named Tony who's been doing body work since the 80s told me to use a heat gun to get dents out of plastic bumpers before painting. Said it softens the plastic and lets it pop back into shape without filler. I tried it on a 2015 Civic rear bumper last Thursday, got the dent mostly out, but the heat caused the paint to bubble and crack in a weird pattern. Ended up having to strip the whole thing and respray it, cost me an extra 3 hours and $50 in materials. Shoulda just used filler and primer like I always do. Has anyone else had this happen or did I just use too much heat?