c/auto-body-repairers

10

lisa_bennett•1d ago

That moment my frame machine let loose and sent a quarter panel flying across the shop floor in Phoenix last July

I was working on a 2012 Civic rear quarter replacement, had it all clamped down on my Chief EZ Liner. I guess I got in a hurry and didn't double check the pinch weld clamp because about halfway through the pull that sucker slipped and the whole panel shot off like a rocket. Smacked into the toolbox across the bay and bent a drawer handle clean off. My foreman just stood there staring at me for like 10 seconds before he started laughing. I had to spend the next two hours re-clamping and re-measuring everything from scratch. The job ended up taking me 6 hours total instead of the usual 3. Has anyone else had a pull go wrong because a clamp slipped or the frame machine just decided to give up on you?

3

wright.michael•5d ago

That moment I walked into a salvage yard in Memphis and saw how they organize their panels

I had to grab a used fender for a 2010 Corolla last weekend and ended up at Pull-A-Part out on Lamar. Figured it would be the usual chaos but their setup was actually smart - they had all the red cars in one row and silver cars in another, not just grouped by make and model. The guy working there told me they started doing it after a customer complained about walking through 3 rows to find a matching door. I swear it cut my search time in half compared to the last yard I went to over in Nashville. Has anyone else noticed body yards being more organized lately or is this just one random place that figured it out?

7

wendyc53•5d ago

That time I tried to rush a frame pull on a wet morning at my shop in Tulsa

I had a 2010 F-150 in the bay last November, skipped checking the pull clamps because I was in a hurry, and the whole assembly let go, bent the frame rail worse than before, took me an extra 3 days to fix it right, has anyone else ever had a chain slip mid-pull and just stood there watching it happen?

15

emmag40•7d ago

Finally found the secret to fixing orange peel on older clear coats

I have been fighting with orange peel on a 2010 Ford Fusion for the last 3 days. The clear coat was really rough and no amount of buffing was fixing it. Then I tried wet sanding with 1500 grit by hand instead of using the DA and it came out glassy smooth. Has anyone else had better luck with hand sanding on those older factory finishes?

1

lunaw72•8d ago

Had a Mitsubishi Evo in the shop last Thursday that threw me for a loop with a misaligned hood latch

I spent 45 minutes chasing a phantom rattle on the passenger side before realizing the latch was 2mm off from a previous half-baked repair job and once I tweaked it back the sound disappeared, anyone else run into weird noises that turn out to be something simple like that?

12

parkerl33•8d ago

This week at the shop was a total train wreck

Had a Mustang coming in for a simple bumper respray and ended up finding rust holes all through the rear quarter panels after taking off the trim. Spent three extra days cutting and welding patches that nobody budgeted for. Anyone else ever have a quick job turn into a total nightmare like that?

13

patricia_hayes•10d ago

Spent 4 hours chasing a paint run on a 2018 F-150 hood in Phoenix

Turns out the cheap clear coat I grabbed from a wholesaler last minute was too thin and I should have just driven 20 minutes to my usual supplier, has anyone else had a random batch of paint just not perform right?

12

leep33•10d ago

Hit 500 door dings fixed in my first year and it caught me off guard

Ive been doing auto body for about 14 months now down here in Tampa. I started tracking every repair just out of curiosity and last week I added up all the door dings I pulled from parking lot dings. Ended up at 503 repairs from people who just wanted that one little dent gone. Anyone else surprised by how much just small dent work pays out compared to big collision jobs?

7

ross.sean•11d ago

Heard a guy at the paint supply store swear by wax and grease remover before sanding

I always just wiped down panels with mineral spirits before sanding, but this guy said he uses a dedicated wax and grease remover from PPG. Tried it on a greasy door jamb last week and the primer stuck way better. Anyone else notice a difference with the specialty stuff?

20

piper_thompson31•13d ago

Hit 1000 unibody repairs before I even realized it

Was going through my job books from the last 6 years last weekend. Counted up all the unibody frame pulls and repairs I did. Hit exactly 1003. Never kept track before. Just kind of happened. Anyone else keep a mental tally or just me?

19

brian_coleman•14d ago

Customer complaint about my paint job made me drop the cheap primer

I've been using a house brand urethane primer for years because it was $15 less per gallon. A guy brought his restored 67 Mustang back 3 months later with peeling around the edges. He showed me the bare metal underneath and said 'you skipped the etching step didn't you?'. Switched to a proper epoxy primer that costs $48 a quart and I've had zero callbacks since. What do you use for panel prep on older cars with bare metal?

2

stellas56•16d ago

Went to a body shop in Cleveland and saw them using bondo on a frame rail

I stopped into a shop last week to pick up a part and noticed a guy slathering filler on a frame rail of a Jeep. Not a cosmetic panel, the actual frame. I asked the owner about it and he just shrugged and said it's how they've always done it. That's crazy to me because that stuff is gonna crack out first bump or winter salt will eat through it in a season. I get that filler has its place on quarter panels or roof skins, but structural parts? No way. Has anyone else run into shops cutting corners like that or am I overreacting here?

19

wendyc53•17d ago

Stumbled on a spray technique at a shop in Denver that saved me 2 hours on clear coat

Was helping a buddy at his shop in Denver last Tuesday and watched him lay down clear coat with a different overlap method I'd never seen before. Has anyone else picked up a random trick from watching someone else work that totally changed your routine?

8

emmajackson•18d ago

Dropped $400 on a fancy paint gun and it underperformed my old $80 special

Bought a high-end Iwata spray gun thinking it'd level up my clear coat jobs, but the finish came out worse than my beat-up backup from Harbor Freight. Anyone else find that expensive gear doesn't always mean better results in this trade?

24

walker.robert•20d ago

Took me 6 hours to fix a dent that should have been a 45 minute job

Kept trying to pull a crease on a 2018 F-150 rear quarter panel with my stud welder and it just kept warping. Finally gave up and tried the glue pulling method I always swore was a gimmick, got it damn near perfect in 20 minutes. Anybody else stubbornly stick to one tool way too long before trying something new?

30

holly898•21d ago

Three hours to fix a dent I thought would take thirty minutes

Had a 2018 Silverado come in last week with a small crease on the rear quarter panel. Figured I'd have it knocked out before lunch. Three hours later I was still wrestling with it because the metal had work-hardened worse than I expected. Ended up having to heat it and use a stud welder to pull it in stages. Anyone else run into panels that just refuse to cooperate for no obvious reason?

1

samward•22d ago

Swore by Uni-spot guns for years, got talked into trying a Sata yesterday

I’ve been using Uni-spot spot welders for like 8 years. Never had a complaint, they just work. Yesterday a buddy at the shop I subcontract for sometimes, he’s been doing this since the 80s, told me to try his Sata 3000 on a quarter panel replacement I was doing. I figured it’d be about the same, you know? But man, the trigger feel and how clean the weld puddle looked was just different. Less cleanup after too. I’m still not sold on switching permanently because my Uni-spot has been bulletproof and parts are easy to find local here in Nashville. But that Sata felt like a better tool for thin metal. Anyone else made a switch like this and regretted it or stuck with it? The guy said it’d pay for itself in a year on time saved. That true?

27

kelly.parker•22d ago

Learned a hard lesson about paint curing times the other day

I rushed a fender repair in my garage last Saturday because the customer needed it by Sunday morning, and now the clear coat is showing fish eye bubbles from moisture trapped underneath. Should have waited the full 24 hours like the can said instead of trying to save a few hours. Anyone else ever get burned by skipping the cure time on a quick job?

24

wright.michael•23d ago

Disagreed with the shop foreman on using filler for that Honda Civic door ding

I was working on a 2018 Honda Civic at Fred's Auto Body in Phoenix last Tuesday. The foreman said to just slap filler on a quarter-sized dent near the door handle, but I argued it needed a proper dent pull first. I spent 20 minutes pulling it flat with a stud welder before applying any filler, and it saved us 30 minutes of sanding later. Anyone else ever push back on the quick fix approach and have it work out better?

10

the_sandra•25d ago

Found a 1973 paint formula chart in an old shop manual yesterday

I was cleaning out a filing cabinet that hasn't been touched since the 80s and came across a factory formula card for a 1973 Ford Mustang. The paint code was for a color called 'Medium Copper Metallic' and the mixing instructions used lead-based pigments that are banned now. Has anyone else run into old mixing methods that made you appreciate modern safety gear?

5

reese_garcia•26d ago

I tried using a DA sander on low speed for clear coat work and got way less burn-through on edges

Figured I'd save time by running it fast like always, but after burning through the clear on a 2023 Honda fender panel last Tuesday, I dropped to 3,000 RPM and the finish came out way smoother with zero edge strikes - has anyone else found that going slower actually saves you from having to respray a whole panel?

31

the_sandra•27d ago

PSA: That $80 paint mixing gun from Harbor Freight is a trap

I grabbed one of those cheap purple guns last month to do a fender blend on a silver Honda and it spattered chunks of unmixed clear all over the bay. Took me 3 hours with wet sanding to fix the mess I made. Anyone else get burned by budget paint gear or was I just unlucky?

9

rileyowens•28d ago

Was sanding down a tricky blend panel on a 2018 Civic in my shop yesterday when the DA caught the edge wrong and ripped through the clear

I was in such a hurry to get the job done by 5 PM that I forgot to feather the edge properly and now I gotta strip it back to primer and start over, anyone else ever ruin a panel rushing a sanding pass?

19

black.jordan•28d ago

I sanded a repair by hand instead of using a DA and got better results

I had this dent on a 2017 silver Civic near the rear quarter panel that was driving me crazy. Everyone swears by dual action sanders for feathering, but I tried doing it by hand with 400 grit after my DA stripped too much clear too fast. The blend came out smoother with less burn-through on the edges, and the primer laid down flat. Has anyone else ditched power tools for a hand sanding approach on tricky spots?

26

angelapalmer•1mo ago

Cracked a 2017 F-150 frame rail today and nobody warns you about the cab mount bolts

I had a 2017 F-150 come into my shop in Tulsa last week with a bent frame rail from a curb hit. Straightened it out on the frame rack after about 4 hours of measuring and pulling. What caught me off guard was how rusted the cab mount bolts were even on a 7 year old truck from down here. Broke two extractors before I gave in and hit them with a torch and some PB Blaster. Finally got all 6 out without snapping any studs. Has anyone else noticed these newer trucks rusting faster in the cab mount areas?