Joe
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Cross draft is going to be harder to slow down, you need to block the fan off some.
What kind of booth? Cross flow? Only way is to make a baffle to slow the air down on the intake side.. My downdraft uses both variable speed motors and motorized baffles to maintain positive pressure.
Any area you buff will become glossy.. Have done many flat paint jobs over the years just have to be good about keeping things clean. If you dont have a decent booth I wouldnt do it..
I dont buy name brand lacquer thinner or paper.. They run those specials to get people in the door, rarely do they actually paint a car for that price.. I have a friend that used to manage one of those, they usually averaged between 750-1200…
I wouldnt say high end, and feel free to comment, I just want to understand a bit more how it works for you.. We have all done cheap paint jobs,cant say 195 cheap, but I have done some 1200-1500 dollar stuff years ago. I think its more about wanting people to understand this is still a business, if you can make a profit painting a car for 195 awesome, but if not whats the point? A lot of body shops are still not run like businesses. And as time goes on only the business savy will survive. You have to watch your numbers on every job.. You could come in my shop and I could tell you what my net profit is on every job.. Could you? I am willing to help anyone that ask..I have a few basic formulas that work very well to figure some of this stuff out.. Basically a plug and play..
If you wouldnt mind posting up a break down of actual costs and profit on a 195 job.. I bet you will be amazed that you are actually losing money, unless you fudge the numbers. This business is about making a profit, while doing quality work.. Yes it can be done, is it tough sometimes, hell yes it is.. But at the end of the day if the shop is not making 10%+ net after all expenses I will close the doors.. So that means if you do 500k a year the shop should be making 50K+- after you pay everything, including yourself! Otherwise whats the point? You can go work at McDonalds and make 15 dollars an hour around here..
You could probably repair that without that puller.. I would use my big slid hammer and weld on a few tabs and pull if I didnt have a machine. You will be amazed how easy these light metals pull back..
You CANT make money at 195.. Anyone with any good business sense knows that.. What is your net profit on each car? 10 dollars? I dont care if your overhead is only 500 a month, you cant make money.. This kind of crap work,business ethics is what is keeping this industry behind the times… Sorry guys, but I have been in business 12 year this kind of stuff makes me mad!
What are you trying to pull with it? Only good for light sheet metal work.
How do you make any money at 195? Or should I ask why would you want to?!
Yeah dont mess with them.. I have installed atleast 25 of those kits, they dont hold up.. Yhey will always be coming back for adjustments, and once you install them its hard to go back to stock.. You have to cut the hinges on the Bmw doors, so the doors will have to be replaced to go back.. We did a 3 series about 5 years ago and last year he went back to stock cost him 3500. He wishes he would of never installed them. I would personally walk away from this job.. Will turn into more headaches.
Probably going to have to pull the motor.. Looks like the car will need some time on a frame machine.
[b]ding wrote:[/b]
[quote]Joe, you obviously didnt take lessons from Crash on 90 line otherwise you would be singing it praises :rofl :rofl :rofl .
Seems a lot of people like sikkens though for water. I never used it but know a few shops that use their solvent base and was never impressed with the way it looked[/quote]Funny you mention that.. I did actually cut and paste his thoughts and tried it his way and it made no difference. I was really disappointed in the way the painted looked after a month or so.. The diamont line was so bullet proof it worked day in and day out with no problems. Their water was a big let down.. Sikkens solvent I also never really cared for, we switched from autobase plus to diamont. But their water is really nice..
Probably need to spend a half hour on a frame machine to make it easier to repalce.. Looks like their might be some inner structure damage.
You can tape on Sikkens, BASF wants you to clear between colors.. Another reason we switched..