Mississippi Attorney General Asks Insurance Companies to Compensate
Written by staffIn the wake of a hailstorm that created havoc for Mississippi residents left with damaged homes and cars, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood sent a letter to all insurance companies asking them to cover restoration of vehicles damaged by the hailstorm.
In the letter, Hood asks all insurance companies conducting business in the state to pay for necessary procedures to restore recently damaged vehicles to their pre-accident conditions.
Future Cure Paint Booths, the nation’s largest OEM paint booth manufacturer east of the Mississippi, has announced their alignment with Nitro Heat, a California-based manufacturer of industrial and automotive nitrogen generator systems.
“Future Cure, with its 25-year history of providing quality, mid-priced paint booths is proud to be involved with this innovative technology,” said Tom Beck, President of Future Cure. “And Nitro Heat’s design best meets our business model of ‘Quality at Affordable Pricing.’”
Cutting Edge Shop Knows Value of Tsunami Regenerative Dryer
Written by Ed AttanasioIt’s a fairly simple rule in the body shop game—Dry is good and wet is bad. Wet compressed air is the painter’s worst nightmare and many have had bad dreams about unwanted water vapor ruining their day. On the other hand, dry, clean outgoing air is beneficial to any task performed in a body repair facility. Moisture is the enemy and if it’s living in your compressed air, you’re in deep trouble.
By always keeping his eyes open for new equipment, products, technology and practices that will make his a leading shop in his region, Barry Burkholder, the owner of Barry’s Paint Shop in Ephrata, PA, was excited when he saw his first Tsunami Regenerative Dryer, made by Suburban Manufacturing in Monticello, MN.
Audit is a scary word—tax audits, financial audits, and process audits often conjure images of mounds of paperwork. There are different approaches to running an audit, many of which are cumbersome, completed one time and forgotten, or too complicated from the first step.
Simplifying the process and moving away from a process audit to a Process Analysis will help you with continuous improvement. FinishMaster has built a system to help shop owners improve processes by getting the entire team involved, applying small changes, and monitoring success over time.
Herkules Equipment Corporation recently introduced a new paint gun washer called the FastTrack that speeds up the paint gun cleaning process anywhere in the shop.
The FastTrack (model #G45) paint gun washer is inexpensive, lightweight, only 10 inches wide, and is designed to work with Herkules Sparkle Clean Blast aerosol can cleaner. Blast cleans both waterborne and solvent paints.
KBS Coatings Adds ‘Safety Blue’ Color to Line-Up of Non-Porous Colors for Rust Prevention
Written by staffRust is caused by moisture coming in contact with bare metal, producing a chemical reaction known as oxidation. The effect is to significantly weaken the metal and cause blistering underneath paint or primer.
KBS Coatings offers its customers the world’s top rated rust preventive coatings but now KBS Coatings has raised the bar even higher with the addition of Safety Blue to the ten color line-up of RustSeal colors, according to Ben Bonkoski, Operations Manager of KBS Coatings.
Glasurit Introduces Comprehensive, 2-Clears Solution
Written by BASF staffRedefining an entire category in an industry is a rare thing, but the next generation of clears has certainly arrived with the new Glasurit® Multi-Purpose Gloss and Rapid Repair Clears. Together, they form a streamlined clearcoat system you can use to perform any size repair while increasing quality, productivity and customer satisfaction.
Multi-Purpose Gloss Clear 923-460 for non-regulated areas and low VOC 923-220 Multi-Purpose Gloss Clear have been formulated by Glasurit chemists to improve on their highly regarded predecessors.
Is ‘Reactionary’ Marketing Too Little, Too Late? Maybe Not.
Written by Ed AttanasioTo view a pdf file of this article with photos, click HERE.
A body shop owner came up to me at a California Autobody Association meeting recently and shared his tale of woe. A Multi-Shop Operator (MSO) had opened a location in his hometown, where he had been doing business since the 1970s. The presence of the MSO caused him concern, especially when he lost a DRP to his new neighbor and several of his top techs as well. His first instinct, he said, was to step up his marketing, social media and advertising efforts. When he then told me that he had borrowed $50,000 for marketing and wanted my opinion on where the money should be spent, I was a little flabbergasted.
My first question for him was, “Why did you wait so long?” It surely wasn’t what he wanted to hear at the time and he certainly didn’t like what I told him next. “It might be a little too late.”
Vallejo Body Shop Gets Barkitectural for Homeless Dogs & Cats
Written by Ed AttanasioTo view a pdf file of this article with photos, click HERE.
A Vallejo, CA, body shop does a lot of charity work every year, helping people in the East Bay with re-furbished cars through the Benevolence Program and also participating in other giveaways and fundraisers.
This year, Regal Collision Repair backed up its bark to help local homeless cats and dogs by entering a cat tower/car in the 10th annual Barkitecture Gala and Auction held at Sonoma County Fairgrounds on April 5 to raise money for the Humane Society of the North Bay (HSNB). The theme this year was “There’s No Place Like a Home,” featuring a Wizard of Oz motif, complete with a Yellow Brick Road, tin man, cowardly lion, the wizard himself and more than a few Dorothy’s.
Crazy Painter Mitch Kelly, Father & Son Keep on Truckin’ in SoCal
Written by Melanie AndersonTo view a pdf file of this article with photos, click HERE.
Crazy Painters Mitch Kelly, 53, his father Tom Kelly, 73, and son Thomas Kelly, 22, might be a little crazy with the schedule they keep. Based out of Bellflower, CA, the three-generation trio don’t have much free time between painting custom hot rods, Harleys, semi tractor trailers, race haulers, motor homes and, recently, even a plane.
Owners of Kelly & Son The Crazy Painters, Mitch and his dad Tom still have yet to add “& Grandson” to the sign, but the younger generation is holding his own with his computer-generated design and logo work.
You might say painting is in their blood. Mitch’s great great grandfather was striping horse-drawn wagons on the Ford line before motors were even invented. Tom Kelly’s grandfather did pinstriping back in the ‘40s, and Tom, who started in the business at age 13, is well-known for working with Von Dutch as well as Ed ‘Big Daddy’ Roth. Mitch also started in the business at age 13, painting wheels for his dad. Mitch says his dad and grandfather named the shop “Crazy Painters” because of the airbrush work they did back in the ‘50s involved a lot of monsters, flames and ‘crazy’ graphics and lettering.
