ShawnSurridge
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Yes I am still using the Presta polishes. We had been using 3m but we did a black hood,wet sanded with 1500 and then polished one side with Presta and the other with 3m. We tested the finish by washing with wash reducer and the 3m side did show some sand scratches where as the Presta side was good. The big difference was in the time to get to the finished product, the Presta seems to cut quicker and holds out better. All in all both products were very close but Presta is more cost effective,the whole kit costing around 128.00. I am probably like everyone else in that I have all kinds of different polish products laying around but this seems to work for me,and being that I hate to polish unless the job calls for it the less effort the better.
I feel your pain,it always amazes me some of the lame excuses you get. It always made me wonder how you can repair a dent in a panel and miss another right beside it,and do this on a consistent basis,now thats talent. I had a guy like that, I swear he had no feeling in his hands. I also had a painter that thought the shiney spots where he missed sanding was ok, the c-sandpaper syndrome,thats where the panel hardly sees the sandpaper. We have all probably seen or heard some real beauties over time and wonder where these guys came from. All I can say is the new guys are a different breed, you can tell them,but you can’t tell them much. Makes me feel old.
I hear you,its so difficult these days to find good guys anymore. The good ones are usually looked after by their employers and don’t move around too much, and the ones that are out there are usually unemployed for a reason. I think it is a real problem,where are these guys learning all the bad habits? Are the trade schools not teaching properly? Do you find that when you offer suggestions to help make a job easier,they look at you like you have two heads? This whole deal revolves around sharing advice,knowledge and experiences,good and bad. I have learned valuable lessons from the dumb mistakes I have made, and am still learning new things all the time. Some how we have to weed these hackers out, the majority of us take pride in our work and no matter how much we say we hate this shit,its what we do and who we are. Car guys.
I think the yellow pages are becoming a thing of the past. Our company website is being updated with a photo gallery of repairs,collision and completes. With most people shopping around on line I figured it would be a good idea to showcase some of our work and a brief explanation of services and equipment offered. I also advertise in the local papers regularly and do so even in the busy times, advertising when you are slow is usually too late and it costs a lot less than yellow pages ads. Signage is also important if allowable in some areas. A catchy sign sometimes is worth its weight in gold.
The last few weeks have been nuts,a lot of big hits and a lot of front and rear bumpers,love peoples parking skills.I just wish the jobs came more evenly,but hey we will take them all because you don’t know when the tap will shut off and slow back down again.
We have been using it for about 6 months and I am very impressed, it seems to take less effort and does not sink back like some of the others. We have buffed a black lincoln complete and it sat outside in the sun and when we brought it back in we did not have to go over it again in some spots like other products.
I just got the formula from BASF hotline.I could not pull it up in smart colour but she sent me formula, must be update problem on my end although I have latest update.
I found this formula in glasurit 55 line Stock NO 797331. White Gold Pearl,08 Harley. Hope this helps.
I just read something this morning on that same thing. Utah figures out of 11 billion dollar budget it could save 3 million by closing 1 extra day. I have worked 4 day weeks and they are great but i don’t know how well it would work for owners in a bodyshop environment. I think it will become more looked at as energy prices keep soaring,people are already looking at taking jobs with less pay closer to home to offset commuting costs.Times they are a changin.
I know of several shops including ours that uses different clears over bases. I myself have been doing this for years with great success. Most come backs are usually for peeling clear(poor prep) and sinking(poor repair) most have nothing to do with product. It isn’t always about cost,some find a certain clear works for them and they have a certain comfort level with it. I would say that most reps would have a hard time identifying their clear over a competitors. As far as paint warranties, if you have a good relationship with your reps the few and far between issues get resolved fairly easily.
Not trying to be a smart ass but I have sprayed pretty much every product out there except ICI, and they all have they good and bad points.That is pretty fast but if the area is not too large it should work fine.Just does not leave a very big window if you run into problems.
Yikes!! I would say giving the dealership a break( I also work in dealership environment) 40 hours @55 plus 800 for materials. I take it you are not doing inside jambs and such. Two to two and half litres of uno should be lots,it covers awesome.I hope you don’t get paid on percent of bottom line.
I would say the majority of the customers will return if not happy with the repair. Going over the repair before hand and feeling out the customer for what their expectations are is important. Doing a walk around after the repair and listening to them as you explain what you have done gives you a better idea about how satisfied they are and I always tell them that if they have any questions or concerns to always call me no matter how trivial. No matter how good you are at keeping the customer happy,there will always be that one customer that no matter what you do he will never be happy.You are better off investing you efforts to keep your good customers happy and cutting the bad ones loose.I have learned from experience as a service manager that you can waste so much time and effort to try and turn them into good customers and they will still shit on you in the end.Maybe I have been doing this too long.
Never tell the rep from ministry of health that you don’t use the air mask because you can hold your breath for up to 5 minutes at a time.No sense of humour.
If it looks that far off and others have noticed it then take it back. All the reputable shops would most likely fix the problem.If you and others noticed it,they probably did too but were hoping it would fly. My experience is that if I can see it and I would not be happy with it on my vehicle,its not good enough.