Bad Repair Methods in the Industry All Too Common
Throughout my career as an autobody technician, I haven’t been able to help but notice so many of the experienced professionals lack of awareness, training and general enthusiasm for the industry. Poor, uneducated repair methods seem to be an all too common plaugue of the trade. From the body repairs to refinishing, unqualified technicians seem to attempt far to many shortcuts to get that extra job a day though. Here are a few things questionable repairs I’ve observed many different technicians attempt in the past:
Failing to prime/seal e-coat
I’d bet at least 60% of the shops out their ignore this step altogether. I’ve seen so many painters apply basecoat directly to e-coat and not care about the fact that the customers new part will likely stone chip like crazy in less then a year’s time. It’s a very necesarry step!
Not activating basecoat
It’s no secret that activating your basecoat with a hardener will result in a better job. Your paint film will be much more durable and for the time it takes you have to wonder why wouldn’t ya? Some could argue it decreases the pot life of the paint, but in all reality how often do most shops reuse already mixed basecoat…for that matter, why are you mixing more then you need anyhow?
Clueless what a technical data sheet is
so many techs have no idea what a tds is or what it does. The only way you can tell if your using the product properly is by consulting your data sheet, why is it so many ignore this? So many think they can use a product better then the manufacturer knows how to use it….what is the logic?
Plastic confusion
Don’t get me started on plastics! At the last few shops the painters had no idea what to do with a plastic part, grey scuff pad and paint….they actually thought the paint would stick!
Finishing Bodywork with a Dual Action sander
This is one of my favorites. It is unimaginable to me to expect a DA will provide the same level of straightness as a block can. I’ve seen so many guys take their time blocking & then DA the last skim of polyester putty off an beleive it to be straight. This is the begining of a bad paint job, the prepper will usually now go outside the recommendations and apply much more primer then is recommended.
I’ve heard a great deal of bad advice from so many guys in the trade. I try to ignore it and just think about the good tech’s in the industry (like the ones you’d find on this site). It’s unfortunate that most of them are so stuck on their poor repair methods that they’ll never know any other way.
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