Jeremy and Barbara asked me to respond to an e-mail about a repair process and I said “sure.” After all, I already receive an average of five e-mails or phone calls a week about some sort of question pertaining to the collision repair process. They thought that it would be a great monthly column and, wanting to see my picture in print, I agreed.

So here’s how it will work. Send me an e-mail to the address above with the subject title Hey Toby and I will respond to it. Yeah, I know I can answer many of your questions, but if your question is beyond my knowledge, I have a network of highly intelligent friends across the country who would be more than glad to help. Here are some questions and answers that I have responded to during the last few months.

Hey Toby— We seem to be seeing a lot more orange peel in our paint jobs lately. Got any suggestions?
    —Mike from Oceanside, California

Mike—Orange peel can be caused by a number of problems. Painter techniques are one source. Gun movement and gun distance will cause more or less orange peel, but the biggest problem and the easiest to cure is to replace your spray booth hose. Understand that HVLP stands for High Volume Low Pressure and here is where the problem lies. Most of the time we order a standard air hose from our jobber. These hoses are relatively cheap.

Most of the people at the PBE don’t have a clue why there are special hoses for spray booths. As the letters state in the spray gun type: High Volume, and that means a hose with an inside diameter of 3/8 of an inch. Most the air hoses have an ID of one-quarter of an inch and to get the gun to work, the painter cranks up the pressure which leads to more and heavier orange peel (remember low pressure—about 10 lbs at the air gap). Sharpe makes an excellent spray booth hose. Try that and let me know if you see an improvement.

Hey Toby—My receptionist wears miniskirts to work and I want to know if you think that is appropriate attire for my shop.
    —Pat from Tucson, Arizona

Pat—My answer is yes, if she has nice legs.

Hey Toby—I think that the time allocated for replacing the headlamp on a 2005 Toyota Prius is low. The replacement headlamp does not come with bulbs or anything in it. Moreover, you have to disassemble the computer module to get the socket out of the old unit and into the new one. I believe there should either be more time allotted for this procedure or time to R&I the components. There should also be a note about the computer module and what you have to do to transfer it. —E-mail forwarded to me by the Late March Taylor, April 07.

I know a lot of you out there in collision repair land think that the times are too low and probably they are, but there is help. SCRS, AASP and ASA formed a vehicle to act as a liaison between the data base providers and collision repair shops called the Database Enhancement Gateway or DEG. Go to CICLINK.com and click on the DEG logo. Once you are in, go to the tab “submit a database inquiry” and follow the steps. One rule to follow: Make sure you detail why a time is wrong (look at the example of the Toyota Prius headlamp) and not just that you think it is wrong.

Now to the answer to the above inquiry. Both Mitchell and Motors adjusted their times for this procedure. A final thought, the more we use the DEG, the more we will all benefit from it.