Switched to a stud welder and slide hammer set about 8 months ago after watching a guy at a shop in Phoenix finish one in 15 minutes. Has anyone else had an easier time with shrinking metal using heat vs. just hammering it out?
I sprayed a 2018 Silverado in pebble gray last Tuesday and the clear coat kept fisheying no matter what I did. Turns out the customer had used some cheap silicone wax 3 years ago and it was still seeping out of the plastic trim. Had to strip it all down to bare metal and start over, cost me an extra 6 hours. Has anyone else dealt with customers hiding old wax jobs that mess up your paint work?
Had to cut out a crumpled frame rail on a '95 F-150 last Tuesday and the grinder took me 45 minutes, the new plasma did it in 10 with zero heat warping, now I can't believe I waited that long what's the one tool you swore you didn't need until you tried it?
I was swapping a rear quarter panel on a buddy's 67 Mustang last weekend and could not believe how thick the factory steel was. About 1.2 mm compared to like 0.7 mm on modern stuff I'm used to. Found the stat on a hotrod forum while looking up patch panel measurements. Any of you guys notice the difference working on older cars vs newer ones?
Had a guy bring his Mustang back last month because he said the clear coat looked bumpy. I told him that's just orange peel, it happens. He showed me a spot on his friend's BMW that was glass smooth and asked why I couldn't do that. Spent the next weekend practicing with different pressure settings on my HVLP gun. Now I wet sand and buff every single job before delivery, adds about 45 minutes but the finish is way better. Anyone else get told their work needs to be better by a customer and actually learned something from it?
Last Thursday I had a flawless Jaguar that came out mirror smooth in 3 hours flat. But Monday I had a Ford Focus where the clear coat started fisheyeing and I had to strip and redo it in 95 degree heat. Do you guys find the good days balance out the nightmare ones or does one bad job wipe out a whole week of wins?
Ran into a guy at the NAPA in Phoenix last week who told me he never uses filler on plastic bumper repairs, says it always cracks after 6 months no matter what you do. He swears by using plastic welding rods and flexible primers only, but I've been using filler on bumpers for 8 years with maybe 1 call back the whole time. Who's right here or does it depend on the type of damage?
Guy came back three days after a rear quarter repair and pointed out a wavy spot in the sun. I had laid it on too heavy trying to save time. Now I do three thin passes instead of one fat one and let each cure properly. What's the furthest you've gone back on a job to fix a rookie mistake?
I was swapping out a front bumper on a 2018 Civic today and those stupid clips were fighting me as usual... then a guy at the auto parts store told me to spray them with a little WD-40 before prying them off. It worked like a charm and I finished the job in half the usual time. Has anyone else tried this or got a better method for those plastic clips?
Bought this infrared curing lamp from a supplier in Cleveland thinking it'd cut my bake time in half, but after testing it on four panels I still had to wait the full hour for the clear to harden, has anyone else had luck with a different brand or method for forcing dry?
I mean, it clogged up after three panels on a basic Accord respray and I had to redo everything. Anyone else learned the hard way that bargain filters just don't cut it for airflow?
Had a 2018 Honda Accord come in last month with rear bumper damage. Customer wanted a full bumper respray in that pearl white. My shop usually runs Sherwin Williams, but I've been hearing good things about PPG's waterborne on lighter colors. Went with PPG even though it cost me $45 more per quart. Honestly the flake laydown was way smoother, no tiger striping. First pass looked almost done. Had to tweak my gun settings a bit though, it lays thicker than I'm used to. Anyone else notice a big difference between brands on tricky colors like pearl or metallic?
I was out in Fresno working on a 2018 Civic that got rear-ended and the quarter panel just started oil canning right in the middle of a pull. I must have had too much heat in it from the stud welder and it buckled. Anyone got a go-to trick for avoiding that on thinner metal?
A guy I met at a swap meet in Oakland told me my body filler was gonna fail because I was mixing it too wet. I had been adding extra hardener to make it spread easier, but he said that traps solvents and causes pinholes. Switched to a stiffer mix last month and the finish came out way cleaner - has anyone else had to unlearn a bad habit like that?
I had a day last spring where a 2018 F-150 door and a 2020 Civic bumper both lined up perfect on the first try no shims or tweaking needed. Has anyone else had a streak like that or is it just me waiting for the other shoe to drop?
I was at a car show last weekend and this old timer showed me his single-stage urethane job on a '71 Challenger, said he hasn't touched a clear coat in 20 years. He argued it's faster to fix a scratch and the depth looks just as good if you sand and buff right, which got me second-guessing everything I learned. Do you guys think single-stage is making a real comeback in production work or is it just for show cars and nostalgia?
Had a nasty crease on my Ford F-150 rear quarter panel. Body shop quoted me $1200. Guy at the gas station said to heat it up with a hairdryer and push from behind. Did it in 10 minutes. Anyone else ever get a weird tip that actually worked way better than expected?
Pulled the whole dash out before realizing the noise was a loose bracket behind the glove box the whole time, anyone else ever invest a whole Saturday into something that dumb?
I picked the paint because the scratch was on a customer's 2017 silver Civic and that buffer pad has been through worse, but now I'm buffing with a cracked pad that keeps flinging lint everywhere - has anyone else had to make a stupid choice like that and regret it halfway through the job?
I know everyone says stick with one brand for everything, but I tried mixing PPG clear with a House of Kolor basecoat on a 2018 Mustang last month in my shop. It laid down perfect and hasn't shown any issues after 6 weeks. I'm not saying go wild with it, but I think the fear is overblown when you test small batches first. I even got a consistent gloss reading within 2 points across all panels. Has anyone else tried this and gotten decent results long term?
Bought a $75 HVLP gun kit from some random brand on Amazon. Figured it'd be fine for a daily driver bumper job. First pass looked okay. Second pass started spitting and fisheyeing everywhere. Tried adjusting the knob, no luck. Ended up having to block sand the whole thing down and start over. That was an extra 3 hours of labor. Then I went to my supplier and picked up a Devilbiss for $180. That gun laid down paint like butter. The cheap kit went straight in the trash. So I didn't save $100, I lost 3 hours and still had to buy the real tool. Anyone else learn this lesson the hard way with bargain spray equipment?
First a Mercedes S-class door I painted orange peeled in two spots because the temp dropped 20 degrees mid spray, then I cracked a brand new F-150 tailgate while trying to straighten a dent, and yesterday I found hidden rust on a Camry quarter panel after I already cut out the outer skin. Has anyone else had a run like this where everything just falls apart at once?
I stopped by Johnson's Auto Body off I-10 last week, just to grab a quart of clear from their supply guy. Saw them spraying a 2018 Civic with waterborne on a 90-degree day with no flash issues, and the old guy running the booth talked me through it for 20 minutes. Now I'm ditching my solvent setup after 15 years of swearing it was the only way. Any of you guys made the switch and regretted it or found tricks to keep the waterborne from fisheyeing?
Bought a pack of 20 filters for $60 instead of the $120 ones from my usual supplier. Figured a filter is a filter, right? Wrong. Two jobs came out with dust nibs and fisheyes. Had to wet sand and recoat both. Lost a Saturday and burned through material. A lesson I won't forget. Any of you had a similar experience with cheap filters?
I spent about 8 months mixing a PPG clear coat over a Sherwin-Williams base on a 2017 Honda Civic bumper and wondered why it kept peeling back every 3 months. A guy from the local NAPA store pointed out I was using incompatible solvents between brands and that was the problem. How do you guys handle mixing different paint lines without running into adhesion issues?