STEP 2

Disassembly

Once a car arrives at our shop, before the body repair and painting can begin, the pieces around the damaged area must be removed. This means taking off fenders, hoods, bumpers, mouldings, light assemblies, windows, grilles or removing interiors. Undamaged parts are labeled and placed in a safe location for re-assembly once the repair work has been completed.

The Assembly Shop is in a separate building, located behind the Metal Shop where the body and paint work is done. This keeps dust from sanding and painting to a minimum.

STEP 3

Alignment Rack

Nearly all cars are of “unibody” construction, which means the body itself is the frame of the car, unlike trucks which are usually a body bolted onto a separate frame. For safety of the occupants, cars are now built with “crush zones” to absorb the energy of an accident before it intrudes on the passenger compartment. Consequently the entire body may be crumpled, twisted or kinked in an accident, even a minor one.

Our Star-Track Auto-Vision Total Body Measuring System is a computerized three-dimensional body alignment rack for accurate unibody straightening.

Once the panels have been removed from the car (doors, hood, trunk, bumpers, etc.), the vehicle is placed on our Star-Track alignment rack. Areas of major damage are cut away and new structural panels are welded into place. Through the use of hydraulic arms and chains attached to certain locations on the body, and accurate measurement, our experienced technicians are able to return the bent chassis to within factory specifications.

STEP 4

Body Repair

Once the frame has been straightened, it’s time to repair or replace damaged panels.

Structural panels the need replacement such as roofs and quarter panels, which strengthen the chassis or “unibody”, are welded into place. It is important to us that your car maintains the structural integrity and safety that was built in at the factory.

Other damaged panels such as hoods or doors are often removed for repair. Through pounding or pulling, the metal is straightened as much as possible to the original contours. Small dents that cannot be removed otherwise will then be leveled with a plastic autobody filler.

Once the repaired panels meet TPCR’s high standards, they are sanded in preparation for paint.

STEP 5

Paint

Repainting a damaged vehicle is much more than spraying on a new coat of paint. There are several steps involved to ensure that the collision repair is not noticeable.

Any sections to be painted are sanded with a fine grit sandpaper, enough to give a rough surface for the new paint to adhere, but not enough to leave visible scratches. Any bare metal is treated with an acid etch anti-corrosion primer, followed by a filler/primer coat, which is block sanded with an extra fine grit sandpaper to remove any small imperfections that may remain. That is followed by another coat of primer, final sanding, a sealer, an adhesion promoter, the base color coat, and the final clear coat. Each coat of primer or paint is baked at 140 degrees for 40 minutes. Every vehicle that has been painted remains in the shop overnight for final curing.

The final color coat must match the rest of the car as closely as possible. It must take into account any fading that has taken place during the life of the vehicle. TPCR uses a computerized Axalta Coating Systems paint mixing system, which provides immediate, hands-on accessibility for our trained technicians to assure a perfect color match. Axalta Coating Systems provides a full array of color information, color selection, and color matching tools to help get the color right. They offer more than 300,000 formulas to reach that precise shade needed.

Our Binks Pyramid paint booth draws heated air downward through the floor to virtually eliminate any dust settling while the paint is being applied or while drying. Filters in the ceiling catch any paint particles to keep them from entering the outside air. Special “daylight” lighting simulates sunlight so the finished paint job will not be noticeable under natural light conditions.

STEP 6

Reassembly

After the body work and paint are completed, the vehicle returns to the Assembly Shop for final assembly. This includes buffing the new paint so that the shine matches that of the rest of the car.

The bumpers, grilles, moldings and any other pieces removed during disassembly are re-installed. Doors and hoods are aligned so that they open and close properly.

Once assembly is completed, the car is given a thorough cleaning inside and out. It is then ready for the customer to pick up.