Collision Blast

Providing FREE Auto Body and Paint Training Videos

The First Day of the 2009 Darryl Starbird Car Show

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The first day of the car show was quite interesting.  I saw a lot of awesome cars and met some very interesting people.  

Brandyn Hart, one of our 1st year collision repair students showed up at the Butler booth.  I asked Brandyn what he thought of the car show.  Below is a video of his comments.

Bandyn mentioned that the first few weeks of break was great.  However, he’s tired of the break and is ready to get back in class and to get things rolling again.
I had the opportunity to meet professional pinstriper “Wild Bill” with Pelton Pinstriping & Artwork.  Bill is a member of Legends of Pinstriping and has been doing this for many years.  He has been to car shows and motorcycle rallies all over the US.  He has met interesting people throughout his career and stated “I love what I do.”  He was worked for people like Willie Nelson on his Ranch.  
Bill said that he used to be called “Wild Bill”, but settles for “Mild Bill” these days.  Bellow is an interview with Bill.
Check back to stay updated with the car show.

BCC Collision Students Visit Extreme Motor Sports Inc.

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By Donnie
Brian and Lisa Hollis
Shop Owners
The Butler Collision Repair students took a field trip to Extreme Motor Sports Inc. in El Dorado, KS to see first hand what the collision industry consists of. This allows the students to see how the industry operates, what to expect when they enter the “world of work” and makes connections between students and potential employers.

I would like to personally thank the business owners, Brian and Lisa Hollis for taking the time out of their schedule to allow us to tour their facility. They started their body shop business in a small nearby town; however, they decided to move the business to El Dorado about 3 or 4 months ago. Having a clean shop and one of the only air conditioned work areas makes his shop an ideal shop for a technician to go to work for. If you ever worked in a shop without air conditioning, you know what I’m talking about. The clean shop also contributes to a safer work environment and produces cleaner paint jobs.

Brian focuses on insurance job, but is also known for award winning restoration. He recently restores a 1956 Chevrolet from the ground up. The vehicle owner has taken this car to a number of big cars shows winning awards. Lisa is the office manger and performs the billing and all of the other necessary paperwork for the business. They currently are using CCC Pathways estimating system, which is the same system we have at the college. However, Brian is considering switching to Mitchell, which is another leading computerized estimating system. The shop uses PPG paints and will soon have their PPG Collision Repair Shop sign to proudly display to customers. PPG is one of the leading paint companies for automotive finishes. BCC also uses this same line of paint.

While we were touring the facility, Brian emphasized on his expectations of an employee. He said “motivation is the most important thing.” He needs employees that will show up ready to work, willing to learn, and with a good attitude. He said, “It’s hard to train a know-it-all.” So someone that is motivated with an open mind and willing to learn is the ideal employee.

The students interacted well and asked quite a few questions. There seemed to be an extra interest in the piece of equipment used to rotate cars on to work on the floor pan areas. We do not teach restoration at BCC Collision Repair, but this gave the students the opportunity to see what the skills learned at BCC can be used for. The core basic skills are needed to perform any type of collision work. The path in which the training leads a student to depends on each individual student.

Students in Customer Waiting Area as Brian Explains the Business Operation

Lisa Explains Certain aspects of the Business

I took a picture of the photo of the award winning 1956 Chevy

Frame and Unibody Equipment

Student Checking-Out the Paint Booth

Check out other Featured Body Shop on I Saw It On Google.

It’s Time

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It’s time to get the new 2008-09 school year kicked off. Monday, August 18, 2008 will be the first day for the Collision Repair students to meet.

1st-year students will meet at 8:00 am in classroom 406

2nd-year students will meet at 1:00pm in classroom 406

I understand the parking situation and know it may cause some unexpected delays. However, please consider planning ahead of schedule. The parking problem will be resolved as soon as possible. Thanks for understanding that improvements and growth comes with sacrifice.

Here is a recap of some of our class pictures from last year. See ya Monday, Donnie Smith

Butler’s 2008 Bodies and Engines Kids College TEAMS Academy

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The Butler Community College Kid’s College TEAMS Academy offered Bodies and Engines this year from June, 9 to 13. The Butler Collision Repair program helped Susan Howell offer sixth through eighth grade students’ explore career opportunities in automotive and collision repair industry.

While learning about all of the different careers available, the students also had a week packed with learning activities and a lot of fun. They learned about metal repair, body fillers, welding, primer application, block sanding, masking and painting. In addition to collision repair, they also learned about electricity, vehicle inspections, car care tips, and how to change a tire if stranded on the side of the road.

Hammer and Dolly Competition Winner

The students competed in a competition that measured their hammer striking accuracy and skills. Nick Whitaker won this competition and was awarded a prize and certificate for his efforts.

Best Mannered Auto Body Man

We feel behavior and conduct should never go unnoticed or unrecognized. This was a very hard decision for the instructors to make. However, after much collaboration the instructor agreed to select Tanner Blubaugh to be awarded our best behavior and conduct award.

Best Daily Journal Award

Well, that is enough of me telling you what they learned. Why don’t we let the students tell you what they learned? The instructors selected Alex Meek to have best daily journal. Below is one of Alex’s daily journals he wrote. Alex was given a tool set as a prize and a certificate for all of his hard work and efforts.

This journal was written on Friday 6-13/08.
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Tell us what you’ve learned during the Bodies and Engines 2008 Kids College:
By Alex Meek

I have learned a bunch of interesting stuff this week. So much, in fact, that I’ll split my journal into days. Here goes:

Day 1:
Today I was introduced to some new teachers: Cody, Devin, Donnie, and Jenni. I also learned how to use a hammer and dolly. Thanks to Devin, my panel looked like it went through war (no offence). I also learned some about Henry Ford, like he didn’t invent the first electric car.

Day 2:
On Tuesday we experimented with Bondo and welding. When we poured Bondo on my dinged up panel, and let it dry, it looked as good as new! Welding was educational, also. If you stare into the flame without a mask, when you go to bed that night, your eyes wont open.

Day 3:
Today was the best day of the week. We traveled to Bigdog Motorcycles in Wichita, and we were taught about how motorcycles were made. We also went into the warehouse with $2 million worth of motorcycles in it! I said, “Are we dead ‘cause I’m in heaven!” Did you know the largest motor they’ve built was just over 1,900 cc!!!

Day 4:
On Thursday we did this experiment with potatoes to see how many volts we could get with copper wiring. We also primed and painted our panels.

Day 5:
On this very last day, so far, we had guest speaker named Loretta Patterson who talked to us about applications. We went to the computer lab and explored some car websites.

THIS WEEK HAS BEEN GREAT!
THANKS FOR THIS WONDERFUL WEEK!

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Wow! Great job Alex; wouldn’t you agree?

I would like to give a special thanks to the people involved to make this a successful Summer Kid’s College. Thanks to Susan Howell and her assistant Shelby. Also, BCC Collision Repair students Jenni Engelbrecht., Cody Leis, and Devin Olson. Great Job!

Below are a few of the videos we discussed this training can lead to.

If you would like additional information about how you can get the proper training to pursue a career in collision repair or related careers feel free to contact me.

Donnie Smith
Collision Repair Instructor
asmith73@butlercc.ecu
316-323-6890