c/auto-body-repairers

Wasted $120 on a paint mixing system that didn't last 6 months

Picked up one of those budget digital paint scales off Amazon back in March. Thought I was being smart saving money over the branded ones at the supply shop. The thing started glitching on the third job reading off by like 15 grams. Took it apart and the load cell was held in with hot glue lol. Anyone else get burned by cheap shop equipment or am I just unlucky?

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dylanmurray•5h ago

Rant: That time I forgot to check the door gap on a 2018 F-150

I was working on a silver Ford F-150 last Tuesday in my shop outside Omaha. Customer wanted a rear door replacement after a parking lot hit. I got the new door hung, aligned the hinges, tightened everything down, and stepped back to look. The gap at the bottom was perfect but the top gap was almost a quarter inch wider than spec. I had to pull the door off again and shim the upper hinge with a washer. Took me an extra 45 minutes because I rushed the initial setup. The customer was waiting in the lobby watching me the whole time too. He asked if these trucks were always this picky about gaps. Has anyone else run into alignment issues on these aluminum body Fords?

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perry.evan•14h ago

Just learned my paint gun was set wrong for 2 years

I was at a shop in Nashville last week and one of the old timers took a look at my work. He asked about my fluid tip size and I told him 1.4 like always. Turns out the clear I've been using needs a 1.3 and I've probably been wasting material and getting worse coverage the whole time. Swapped it out and the difference on the next panel was night and day. Anyone else ever run something for years only to find out you were doing it basic wrong?

c/auto-body-repairers

Wasted $120 on a paint mixing system that didn't last 6 months

Rant: That time I forgot to check the door gap on a 2018 F-150

Just learned my paint gun was set wrong for 2 years

Learned the hard way why you don't skimp on filler

Had a chat with an old timer at NAPA that made me paranoid about primer thickness.

Just found out how much OEM paint actually costs now

Learned the hard way why you don't rush filler work

That time a fender gap taught me a $300 lesson

Finally stopped fighting with thin metal on trunk lids

Bondo bubble popped my bubble yesterday on a Hyundai

Customer said my filler work looked 'lumpy' so I changed my whole approach

Had a day last week where every paint match hit on the first try

Hit 200 car repairs this month and it broke my brain

Rant: I tried cheap bondo from the big box store instead of Evercoat and now I'm redoing a whole quarter panel

Appreciation post: those old school metal body files

I still think PPG is overrated for daily drivers

Customer told me my primer coat was too thick and they were right

Switched from plug welds to spot welds on a quarter panel last week

Picked a used Car-O-Liner over a new cheap frame rack

45 minutes of block sanding ruined by one drip I didn't catch

Read a stat about waterborne paint and had to switch

Was dead set on using OEM parts only until a customer argued me down

Collision shop in Phoenix made me rethink PPG vs Sherwin

Found out yesterday that factory paint thickness specs vary more than I thought

The way people feather clear coat drives me nuts