Some students are off playing and having fun when not in class, but several of the collision repair students are getting work experience in their spare time. These students are spending four hours per day, four days per week in the collision repair program. In addition to collision repair classes, they are taking general education classes to obtain an associates degree. When they are not busy with classes they are working in the collision repair industry.
Today, I am interviewing Patrick Sampoll, a collision repair student, to get his views on his school and work experience. Patrick is a first year student and is currently work part-time for X-treme Motor Sport Inc. in El Dorado, Kansas. Patrick connected with Brian (owner) when we took a field trip to X-treme’s facility. Patrick went and spoke with Brian after the field trip and was able to attain a part-time job. We appreciate Brian, and other body shop managers for taking our students in and helping them achieve superior results at a faster rate.
Donnie – Tell us how you became interested in collision repair.
Patrick – I have always wanted to work on cars. While in high school I decided to take the Auto Tech program offered by Butler. I really enjoyed what I learned, but I still wanted more, so I decided to enroll in the collision repair program.
Donnie – Now that you’ve taken some of the collision repair classes and you’re working for a body shop, what captures your interest the most?
Patrick – I interested to start learning more about refinishing. I want to become a paint technician.
Donnie – Why did you choose Butler Community College to get your training?
Patrick – I thought about another program, but I felt that Butler had a stronger program. I also like the one-on-one training offered at Butler. They have a less student-per-instructor ratio.
Donnie – What do you feel the collision repair career pathway has to offer you?
Patrick – I think that it is open to a wide variety of opportunities. Everyone knows that this training will prepare you to become a collision or refinish technician, but you can also move towards estimating, insurance appraisal or shop management.
Donnie – What advice would you give someone that may be interested in pursuing collision repair as a career?
Patrick – Take a tour of some schools offering collision repair. Visit some body shops and ask question. This should give you a good idea if this work is a fit for you or not.
Patrick – It has been a great experience. We recently replace a cab clip, which taught me a lot. I am able to take the skills that I’ve learned in school and apply them at work.
While some students may be goofing off in their spare time, you will probably find Patrick in class or work achieving superior results, to offer the collision repair industry.
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Collision Repair Tip
On a large repair, use a cheese grater file to level the body filler. You only have a 10 to 20 minute window to use this technique. If filed too soon the filler will smear or peel off. If you wait too long, the filler will become fully hardened making it difficult to file. However, if done properly, this will save a lot of sanding time.
Quote
“Never give up.”
~Louis Chevrolet
Fact
W.C. Durant in Detroit, Michigan started the company Chevrolet. The cars produced were first brought out by racecar driver, Louis Chevrolet. In 1917 General Motors acquired Chevrolet.
Question
What is the difference between primer surfacer and primer sealer? If you know, leave us a comment with the answer.
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Anonymous says
January 9, 2009 at 3:24 pmDifferent primer sealers have different properties. Some sealers are excellent ground coat colors, and don’t do much else. Some have excellent metal adhesion properties, and are great for bare metal application. Sealers are generally non-sanding, meaning just that- they aren’t intended to be sanded. In a given time frame, they can be primed or painted right over. Sealers can sometimes provide somewhat of a barrier between the old finish, and the new finish. Sealers have little ability to fill sand scratches or voids of any sort. They tend to be pretty thin.
Primer surfacers are for filling small imperfections, like sand scratches in bondo, or filling the cove left behind when you sand out a stone chip or scratch. Primer surfacers always need sanded before topcoating. They seldom have bare metal adhesion properties, and need a sealer or metal etching primer applied before applying primer surfacer. Primer surfacer is heavy and thick, it contains talc to give it body. This is why when it’s dry sanded, the dust is so fine and powdery.