The Anatomy of a Great Car Body Work

The car body repair processes that we will be covering here are all very similar, and there is no one right way to do this. Still, I thought a blog post about how a great professional approaches their work would be interesting for anyone looking to hire a Car Bodywork Newcastle Upon Tyne to come to their home or business.

This blog post will give you an idea of what to expect from people who know what they are doing when it comes to fixing your car’s damage.

Let’s Get Started!

First Things First:

Assessing the damage When an insurance company calls you up and tells you that they have sent out a mobile unit to assess your vehicle’s damages. What the appraiser is going to do is look for any telltale signs as well as take their best guess as to what the total damages are going to be.

The appraiser is not there to fix your car or provide you with an accurate quote for repairs. That will happen later.

What they are there for, at least initially, is to assess the general scope of work that will be required to make your vehicle roadworthy again.

As mentioned before, this should give you a good idea of the kind of work that needs doing and how much it might cost you to get your vehicle back on the road again.

Masking off Panels :

We now move on to one of the most critical processes in quality – masking off panels!

Masking off panels When taping up windows and around areas where metal meets metal, you have to be extremely careful not to let the masking tape stick onto the fresh paint.

This is where patience is called for and a modicum of artistic skill when it comes to masking off panels properly.

If your repairman does not mask things off in this way, they are taking shortcuts that will show up later in poorly filled body lines and rust spots around the masked areas.

Now that you have seen some examples of how it should be done, I hope you agree with me on this point – if somebody is skimping on these basics, then there are probably more significant problems ahead!

Panel Alignment

Here’s where most amateur repairs tend to become apparent. On badly damaged cars, panel fit tends to suffer.

If your vehicle is badly damaged, then it may not be possible for a mobile team of professionals to take it out on the road straight away.

They will make sure that the panels fit together correctly but leave the car in the garage for you to come and pick up later.

In other words, if somebody tells you that they have “taken care” of panel alignment, know that they are trying to cover something up!

Finalising a Quality Repair

To give you an idea of how a finished paint job should look when you can see that while there are some apparent defects around the area that was repaired (those spots with no paint) overall the panel alignment is good. It looks like a proper paint job was done here.

On to Sanding

To get a good level of smoothness on the repaired area, the auto body repairman will have to go over it with an abrasive block of some kind or use an electric sander.

Of course, this is not something you would ever ask your DIY-obsessed friend to do for you, so if somebody tells you that they have used one of these tools either inside or outside your vehicle.

Then know that they are trying their best – but still falling short of what should be expected from professional car bodywork!

Cleanup

Cleanup is essential before moving onto colour coats, as any dust particles left in the repaired area will show through later. Repairing the damage As you can see, this Jeep has suffered extensive front-end damage.

The full replacement of all panels involved would have been expensive – so instead, only the damaged parts were replaced, and the Jeep was put back on the road again.

Finalising a Paint Job

When it comes to finalising a paint job, the most experienced auto body will use fantastic sandpaper with water as an abrasive to eliminate any slight irregularities visible along panel lines. A good rule of thumb is for your automobile’s new finish to look “wet” when you hold it up under bright light!

After having gone over the entire length of the car with a wet 400-grit abrasive, you can see that most of the additional scratches you would expect from a professional paint job are gone and that the surface is starting to look smooth.

If somebody tells you that they have simply applied a single coat of paint over your ramshackle restoration project before giving it back to you, then know that this is very far from a proper job. Now all those tiny problems which lay hidden under rust and dirt will show through as soon as summer heat arrives. Electric Repair Newcastle Upon Tyne can keep up the vehicle in a good condition.