Getting hitched

This Nissan Altima arrived in the shop, the victim of a bump and run in a parking lot. It doesn’t appear that it was a very hard hit, but then it doesn’t have to be when the other car has a trailer hitch. With the mass of a car behind them a trailer hitch will cut a  plastic bumper like a knife.

We will replace this bumper with a new unit, and once painted to match the rest of the car, no one will be the wiser.

Putting some black on the black and white

Friday we started painting on the Plymouth Satellite, putting some black on the black and white. The first picture shows Chase applying the base coat to the left fender. The next two photographs, numbers two and three, show the fenders and hood coated with the base coat.

The base coat is the first stage of the two-stage paint system that most body shops use. The first stage, the base coat, is the color of the finish. The base coat is relatively fragile and dries to a dull, near flat finish. These parts look somewhat shiny because they are still wet.

The second stage, which we didn’t apply until today, is the clear coat. The clear coat seals the base coat under a tough protective layer and it provides the gloss to the finish.

The fourth photo shows the Satellite fresh back from the media-blaster. The marks around the edge of the trunk lid is where we did a little cleanup, remove some paint the media-blaster missed.

The previous four pictures were taken Friday. The next seven photos were taken today.

The next three pictures, numbers five, six and seven, labeled as 2012.11.12 (1) through 20112.11.12 (3) show the parts after we applied the clear coat. Where the parts had a little shine on Friday because they were a bit wet, the same parts today have a deep, rich gloss, even when dry.

Pictures eight and nine (11/12, # 4 & 5) show Chase doing a little touch-up metal work on the trunk lid.

The last two pictures, numbers 10 & 11 (11/12, # 6 & 7) show the car after sanding. Though the car is just back from the media-blaster, the car must still be sanded with 80 grit sandpaper on the DA (Dual Action) sander in order to provide some surface texture for the bare metal primer that follows to get it’s teeth into for good adhesion.

Now that all the surface rust, dirt and old paint are stripped away, we can begin work on putting the color back. A little black here … a little white there.