[SS-Traveller]

Rideon's Jeep Grand Cherokee took some damage.

Well, such things happen. But they need to be fixed. With or without the need to claim insurance. If he had to claim insurance, his excess was A$450. And the Touch Up Guys quoted him A$425. And that too, for a repair job to be done at home over a weekend morning.

So here he is... yes, just the one person - Alex... at rideon's doorstep at 8:45 am on a bright and (thankfully) sunny Saturday morning. It had been raining off-and-on all week, and the sun had refused to come out all day on Friday.

Most cars in Australia have the paint code on a door sticker. The image has been rotated to prevent torticollis while reading. The paint code here is PRP. This was an interesting bit of information pointed out by BHPian extreme_torque.

[SS-Traveller]

Here on, the pictures explain things:

The initial masking, sanding and filling of the groove caused by the impact on the plastic bumper.

The filler used - specific for plastics

Finishing and smoothing the filler by hand using superfine emery paper

The damage to the metal being masked off, filled, and finished

Sanding down the rough area further ahead.

Preparation of the area where the major damage was. Note the front proximity sensor having been masked off.

[SS-Traveller]

Lightly sanding down the surrounding paintwork to allow new paint to bond well to the old one, and to remove wax and grime.

Making sure the junction between the bumper and the metal is just perfect.

Cleaning up the dust & finer particles, wax and grime with a liquid called Prepsol. Very rapidly dries up.

Masking the rest of the areas. It has to be lint-free paper and NOT gunny bags / old newspaper! This masking is to apply the primer, and paint is applied over a wider area - so the mask is removed and reapplied further away.

Materials used for masking single-handedly. No "helper" required!

[SS-Traveller]

Applying the primer

Drying the primer with a heat gun

Masking removed

Creating the paint from standard formula taken off the computer database, and hundreds of little bottles of base paint - all of it is contained in the van.

What happens if there's an old car with paint that does not have a code? Well, then there are thousands of paint swatches that can be pulled out, and the closest match can be used.

Measuring and mixing the individual paints on an electronic balance.

[SS-Traveller]

Basecoat paint being applied - 3 coats

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar4_Qx11qpk

Clear coat being applied - 3 coats again IIRC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8vOooUq0B4

First top coat is kept short of the original shiny paint by this much

Second coat gets a little closer

Shine & smile!

The final paint is baked

Orbital polisher for that final sparkle

After cleaning up the rest of the car, there's NO difference in colour between the repaired and original parts. Alex says the only way one can really make out there has been a repair done, is to take a paint thickness measuring gauge and check the original and repaired areas.

[SS-Traveller]

Concluding thoughts:

• Takes about A$70,000 of investment to set oneself up in a franchise like this
• It's really hard, back-breaking work - Alex worked for 6+ hours for the job described above, without a lunch break. He just had a cup of coffee
• Franchisees get 6 weeks of training from the company. Alex's theoretical knowledge is quite impressive
• Alex is happy to get to repair 1 car a day. A really good day = 2 cars
• The paint system and supplies are by Dulux
• All the sanding, polishing and spray does have associated health hazards - using a mask is imperative
• I haven't seen some of the materials used there, in India - such as the masking materials and fillers. Filler used for metal and plastic is separate.
• 'Paint the whole panel' is the philosophy in India to get a paint match (not too successfully at times). 'Blending' or 'flicking' the paint midway across the panel obviously gets a better match
• There's a 2 hp oil-free compressor inside the van. Power is through a thick extension cable from the customer's house
• To control dust, Alex hoses down and air-blows the surrounding area where he's working. The van (a Toyota Hiace) has an awning that can be pulled out to cover the work area in summer.

[Aditya]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Technical Stuff Section. Thanks for sharing!

[vigsom]

Excellent account , SST.

Wish we have similar services in India.

What stands out here is the use of personal protective equipment and no shortcuts.

[paragsachania]

Lovely detailed thread there doc!

More than anything else, I simply loved the professional aspect of this whole job right from start all the way till the final finish.

Needless to say the emphasis these folks pay to their own safety by wearing the right Uniforms/Aprons, gloves and masks.

[extreme_torque]

Excellent account Doc! The whole idea of these franchise is to do your repair for less than the amount of access you pay, if you were to claim insurance.

[maddy42]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Concluding thoughts:[list][*]Takes about A$70,000 of investment to set oneself up in a franchise like this[*]It's really hard, back-breaking work - Alex worked for 6+ hours for the job described above, without a lunch break. He just had a cup of coffee

Amazing writeup SS. This is how quality and workmanship is achieved.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Lovely detailed thread there doc!

More than anything else, I simply loved the professional aspect of this whole job right from start all the way till the final finish.

Needless to say the emphasis these folks pay to their own safety by wearing the right Uniforms/Aprons, gloves and masks.

No Jugaad is what i love about these folks. I have not seen anyone doing hard manual labour barefoot or without proper protection. Its so difficult to get our farm workers to even follow basic safety. Our family driver ended up loosing a part of his finger due to carelessness. He was carrying a tank of oil on a tractor. It slipped and when he tried to catch it his hand got stuck under the wheels.


Maddy

[akshay4587]

Wow; This is what I needed, I have a similar scratch on the front bumper of my Civic.
Now I know, whom to call

[sen2009]

Nice job. But the cost of 21,000 INR (425 Aus $) is not especially cheap I guess. Repainting the whole panels at the authorized body shop would have taken much more time though.

[reignofchaos]

Originally Posted by sen2009

Nice job. But the cost of 21,000 INR (425 Aus $) is not especially cheap I guess. Repainting the whole panels at the authorized body shop would have taken much more time though.

It's the labor cost in Australia. Things that involve labor are really expensive. Something like this is quite reasonable by Australian standards.

[sen2009]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

It's the labor cost in Australia. Things that involve labor are really expensive. Something like this is quite reasonable by Australian standards.

That is true. This was almost a full day work for a reasonably skilled person.

The material used probably isn't worth more than 20-30 A$. But the operator has to pay a great amount of EMI on that van setup.

In that light, A$425 cost is probably in the reasonable range.