Collision Blast

Providing FREE Auto Body and Paint Training Videos

Auto Body and Paint Program Offers Career Pathway For A Homeless Person….So What Are You Waiting On?

by 1 Comment

I just read an article that I believe is worth writing about.  I will provide the link to the full article at the end of the post.  I encourage you to take a few minutes to read it.  I am going to high light a few points of the article.

It is about a young boy with a rough childhood.  His mother was on drugs, moving from home to home and even lived in a car for a period of time.  Later the young child and his younger brother were taken from the mother and placed in foster care.  Being a violent child, he was sent from foster home to foster home.  The story goes into detail of how he ended up homeless on the streets.  However, I am going to jump to the point that I would like to make.

Never Give Up
This young man is now doing something that he thought he’d never do.  That is going to college.  He is enrolled in a auto body and paint program.  He mentions that the thought of going to college.  In fact, the thought of it was not even attractive to him at first with all of the responsibility and having to get up early.  However, he has adapted well and really likes working on cars.  The story is not over yet.  This is not a big success story, as he still has a long journey in front of him.  As many of us know, even being successful with a decent job can be a struggle at times.  Dealing with employees, customers, and all of the day to day complications that come with life.  The more things a person have (house, car, toys, job, family, etc.) the more stress the are going to have.  Life itself can be a challenge sometimes.  I am not to be depressing, but to make a point that you should never give up.  Give that extra effort to be in class on time, make that “A”, to get the job you want, and to do your best, even on days when you don’t feel like it.  That is what is going to achieve the true success you desire in your career.

Make It Happen
So where are you heading.  Have you completed high school?  If you have, are you sitting around waiting for things to happen or fall into place?  Well, chances are that it’s not going to happen.  You may still be waiting in a year, five years, or even ten years with the exact same circumstance that you are today.  I’m not trying to make anyone feel bad or upset, but if you want something, go get it.  No one is going to do it for you.  You have to be the one to make it happen.  You may get help and support along the way, but you have to make the final decision to pursue a successful career.

What Career Pathway Should I Choose?
I teach and promote auto collision repair.  However, I do not encourage this career pathway if you are not interested in it.  There are too many careers out there to settle for one that is not a fit for you.  My advice is to think about what your interests and passions and find a career to fit it.  If you don’t know where t start go to your local college and speak to an advisor.  Ask them for resources to help you select a career pathway.  There are even test that you can take that will help guide you in the right direction.  Finding a career is easy, it’s making the decision to make it happen that is hard.

Regardless of past or present things going on in your life (like Mike in the story), you have the ability to change and improve it.  Be sure to read the Full Story About Mike

It’s a new year and new school semester is about to begin.  Do you want a new start…..go get it!

If you have any question about a career in collision repair, feel free to comment or ask on tis post.  I will do my best to help answer your questions.

Auto Repair Estimates – Making a Career From Writing Auto Repair Estimates

by 3 Comments




What is an estimator?
An estimator is a person that writes auto repair estimates on vehicles that have been involved in an accident. The estimator must understand the basic car design and know the nomenclature of a vehicle. The estimator must also have good communication skills as they deal with customers on a daily basis. Not only does the estimator have to communicate with customers, but they will also be the contact person for the insurance companies, shop managers, and the shop foreman or technicians. Therefore, communications is a must for an auto estimator. This career pathway is definitely for a people person. In fact, I would even say that a person that writes auto repair estimates for a auto body repair center needs to be part salesman. It is their job to sell them self, the company, the technicians, and the service that the shop provides. Not all technicians make good estimators, but it is a good idea for the estimator to have experience as a technician. Although, there have been people hired without experience and trained by the shop to write estimates.

Who Hires Estimators?
There are two different industries that hire auto estimators. One is auto body repair shops and the other is insurance companies. This can also split into other categories in each industry. Collision shops can be dealerships, franchise shops, or independent shops. Some insurance companies hire their own auto estimators, while other insurance companies hire independent auto estimators. When you write estimates for the insurance company your title may be an auto appraiser instead of an auto estimator.

What Can An Auto Repair Estimator expect to earn?
This can vary on your experience and if you work for a small body shop or a insurance company. However, according to O*Net the national median for an Auto Damage Appraiser is $53,440 and had a growth rate of 7% to 10% in a ten year period. (2006 – 2016) Some collision repair centers will pay their estimators a salary and a percentage of every job that they sell. Therefore, the more estimate sales that the estimator produce, the more income he or she can earn if on one of these types bonus incentives.
What is the first step to becoming an auto estimator?
The first thing you will need is to learn is the basics. You can do this by enrolling in a collision repair program. Many local community and junior colleges offer these programs. This will allow you to learn the basics about the entire industry. Everything from the body repair, structural or frame repair to painting. Most programs incorporate a basic estimating course within the auto program. This will give you a taste of the industry and determine where you fit in best at. You may decide to become a collision or paint technician instead of a person that writes estimates.  Whatever you decide, this training is the first step to securing a job in the auto collision repair or estimating careers. Some insurance companies require that you have a bachelor degree, but many do not. Experience hold a lot of weight with insurance companies as well. The training is your foundation and how you build the building is up to you. What I mean is, once you have your basics down, you have many opportunities and directions to explore.

Where do I find a facility to gain the training?
The best training for your money is going to be at a junior or community college. Community colleges normally focus on smaller groups, which offers lower student per instructor ratio. This leads to a deeper level of learning. They also receive state and federal funding, which allows them to offer quality programs at a much lower cost to the student. Other training facilities include technical schools and private owned schools. Check with your local community college to see if they offer collision repair. If not, ask them if there is a nearby tech school that does. Chances are that they will know where to point you in the right direction. Once enrolled in a collision repair program, you will be on your way to a career as a person that writes auto repair estimates or many other career pathways that collision repair has to offer.




Did You Find This Article Useful?  Give It A Thumbs Up! 

Metal Straightening – Developing A Repair Plan

by 1 Comment

collision blast
Developing A Repair Plan

In this article we are going to review how to remove a dent from a automotive part.  We’ve determined that the panel is mild steel and repairing the damage would be a better choice than to replace the panel.  Now we need to develop a repair plan and decide which repair method to use on the damage.
First In Last Out
The first thing that you want to determine is the direction of damage.  This is important so you can reverse the damage during repairs.  In collision repair we have a general rule “the first in last out rule.”  This means that the direct damage or point on impact is the area first hit in an accident, which makes it the first in.  Therefore, this should be that last area to repair.  Direct damage is the most obvious damage as it is easy to visually see.  If you try to pull the direct damage first, you will stretch the metal, pull highs in the metal, and still have lows.  You are basically going to chase your damage around while work hardening the metal until the metal become to work hardened, brittle and cracks.

Direct and Indirect Damage
Indirect damage is the damage that is caused by the direct damage.  For example, as the point of impact is pushed in, it causes the surrounding metal to slightly move as well.  If pushed far enough, the indirect damage can cause misaligned body gaps, cracked seam sealer, and/or popped spot welds.  The indirect damage is less noticeable as it may not be visually noticeably without close observation.  The indirect damage is the damage the happened last during the accident, therefore, this damage should be repair first.  Always remember the “first in last out “rule when developing a repair plan.  This will save you hours of time and frustration when it is all done.

Choosing a Repair Method
Once the damage is analyzed and you have determined the direction of damage, and the direct and indirect damage.  Now it is time to decide which repair method is the best choice for the repair.  If you can get to both sides of the panel a hammer and dolly method may be the easiest repair method.  If you can not gain access to both sides of the panel a stud-nail gun may be a better choice.  Other considerations, such as corrosion protection and noise preventions  should be considered as well.  This will be covered at a later time.

Don’t Force The Metal, But Rather Roll The Metal Back To Its Shape
Regardless of the repair method, the same principle apply.  Start with the indirect damage and pull out on the lows and push in on the highs.  You should roll the metal back into shape, rather than try to force it back into shape.  Forcing the metal back into its shape may result in highs and stretched metal.  condition.  Pulling on the lows while rolling the highs out of the metal is the key to metal straightening, regardless of repair method used.

BCC Switching To Waterborne Paint

by 9 Comments

The Wait Is Over
It has been a long wait, but Butler is going green.  The PPG waterborne paint showed up at the school today.

 

A Cleaner Environment
Today PPG rep, Steve Johnson, and our jobber, Danny Hutchins stopped by with the AquaBase waterborne paint.  Now we can start teaching students waterborne technology.  It is not mandatory to be waterborne in Kansas yet as in a few states, but many shop owners are switching to waterborne paint for the green benefits.  A cleaner environment is a huge benefit, however, there are many other benefits to using waterborne paint.

The First
Steve Johnson said that Butler was the 1st collision repair program in his territory to make the switch to waterborne.  The school was encourage to switch to waterborne by their advisory board.  Mitch Speck, the lead painter at Auto Craft in Wichita was a huge advocate of waterborne paint after making the switch himself.  After using waterborne paint, Mitch stated that he would not want to use solvents again….regardless of the green benefit.

Solvent Paints Are Not  Forever Gone
There are still many shops using solvent paints so we are going to continue training with solvents in addition to waterborne. The solvents will be taught using PPGs lower paint line called ShopLine.

More To Come
We will be posting more about our waterborne experience as we start to use the paint.  Check back to learn more about waterborne paint.

We are excite about the switch to waterborne paint and providing a cleaner learning environment for the students.  Help spread the excitement by re-tweeting or posting on Facebook.

How To Blend Paint To An Existing Color

by 2 Comments


 

Blending Paint Tutorial – How To Blend Paint
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MQ3Yx2h3Rg[/youtube]

This is an ABRN How2 tip brought to you by Donnie Smith at BCC.  After a car is involved in an accident, it is the collision repair shop’s job to repair the vehicle back to its pre-accidental condition.  However, with all of the colors, metallic’s, pearls, and many other factors a perfect paint match can be very difficult to achieve.  In order to make an “invisible repair”, the shop must blend the paint into an existing panel or within the panel if possible to reach the perfect paint match.  Well, it may not be a perfect paint match, but you will never be able to notice the difference if blended properly.

As you will see in the video, this is also a technique that you could use to fade one color into another color if you want to paint a custom effect on the car that you are painting.

Would You Like A Few Tips For Adjusting Your Spray Gun and Spraying Techniques? Visit OurIwata Spray Gun Page For Several Videos With Tips and Spray Guns For Sale.


Did You Like This Tutorial?  Please Let Us Know By Clicking The Like Button.