Josue's Collision Repair Thread.

[MAY03LT]

I have pics of that too if you guys are curious.

Absolutely. Everything you've posted is awesome! I have virtually zero body work experience Anything related to this kind of stuff is fascinating to me.

 

[STLtrailbSS]

My idea of how body work was done was so far off its not even funny. Good Stuff!

 

[JosueLT]

Haha.....glad I could shine some light on the process fellas.

 

[07ChevyTruck]

Another job well done.

 

[Ghoster]

So..... what are we working on now??

 

[JosueLT]

Oh, about a $60,000 car......no biggie.


Lexus LS460. We're a certified Lexus and BMW repair shop, so we're always stocked with these cars. This one was smashed pretty good in the A-Pillar/Rocker area, and a LOT of suspension damage. Gonna be fun times!

Lower control arm broke in half. LOL

Also RIPPED out of the cradle.

We have a guy who went to BMW's collision school in NJ, pretty much 95% of his workload is BMW's. lol We get some train wrecks in though...he's routinely having to pull motors out to section in new frame rails and strut towers. At least once a month...

Here's a 5 series he did not too long ago...

And a few randoms since they're on the same page of my photobucket. hehe

Wrangler I did. (when I was down in the other shop)

Had to pull the dash to weld on a new A-pillar post, so it wouldn't get damaged.

Audi I did a few weeks ago. New quarter panel, used rear door, blend front door, repair rocker molding and rear bumper, and some suspension damage. STILL messing with a suspension problem though. Originally it got a new shock, upper control arm, and wheel bearing (pressed in...FML) Put it on the ground, and the wheel was WAY far forward still, so I had to pull it all apart again and put a new lower control arm in. Took it down for alignment, they tell us it needs a new knuckle. DAMMIT! Luckily it came with a new hub and bearing pressed in already, so it only took me 20 mins to swap it out today. Easy when it was the 3rd time tearing it apart!

Lexus RX330 I did last winter. Ice fell on it or something.

Sierra I did years ago...

Anyone remember me doing the Trailblazer frame swap I posted on the other site? I supposed I should just post all those pics in here too, eh?

 

[MAY03LT]

Anyone remember me doing the Trailblazer frame swap I posted on the other site? I supposed I should just post all those pics in here too, eh?

Heck yeah, that was cool.

 

[Wyle]

And I put the LT together today. Bumper gave me some crap trying to get the gap closed up to the fender. It was an OEM bumper, but it came from a GM Outlet store and was sold "as-is", meaning it had defects in it and was kicked off the assembly line.

I never knew GM sold "factory seconds" (other than in a dealer showroom ). How does someone deal with the outlet stores and find out what they carry?

 

[JosueLT]

I never knew either! This is the first time I've seen something like that stamped into a part. I'll have to ask our parts guy where it came from. Most likely one of the used or aftermarket suppliers has the hook up, sometimes they have their hands in OEM overstock....

 

[itstrick]

I never knew either! This is the first time I've seen something like that stamped into a part. I'll have to ask our parts guy where it came from. Most likely one of the used or aftermarket suppliers has the hook up, sometimes they have their hands in OEM overstock....

Awesome Work

If you ever have to move to Iowa, look me up there will be a job at our shops here.

 

[JosueLT]

Haha, I'll keep that in mind!

What's your connection with the business?

 

[YOUNG]

I've been lurking on this thread since it started.. Love the work man! its really nice to see how its all done, and some of the things you do are pretty good! props to you.
hopefully my body shop will do as good of a job as you when i turn my car in this week

 

[JosueLT]

Thanks!

Hopefully you (guys) can take a little bit away from this thread, and have more of an idea on what to look for when you pick your rides up from the shop.

How bad is your car?

 

[itstrick]

Haha, I'll keep that in mind!

What's your connection with the business?

I help manage our shops here. We have two locations, one that has been around since 1975 and the other one we recently built 6 years ago.

So I know all about the insurance company's and how they like to "save"- and I use that term very loose. I was going to say on that one SAAB it looked like the penmanship of pro*****ive.

 

[JosueLT]

It's good seeing shops stay in business for that long, means they're doing something right!

Ours was started in 1947. The original owner started it, then his son/current owner bought it in the late 80's, and now his son is the general manager. His daughter also comes in 3 days a week as an estimator, but she's atrocious at it and all she does is gum up the works. We have 7 bodymen, 4 painters, a combo guy, 2 estimators, parts guy, 5 detailers, receptionist, 2 office girls (IT/HR) general manager, daughter, owner, and a few old, retired guys (from other careers) who run cars, run customers, pick up parts when needed, etc. One of those guys even retired from this shop, now he comes in and does maintenance...over 55 years at this place!! It's incredible hearing stories of how they fixed cars back then.

Sometimes it's tough to make money at a shop with so many mouths to feed though. The owner doesn't really care either, he'd rather have 25 people making 15hrs a week, than 5-6 making 90...anything to get the jobs out the door and make them more money. We just had another guy retire (63, but he's only been here for 14 years), and instead of waiting to fill his spot until after he retired, or maybe coordinating it so the new guy would pick up where this guy left off....he had the new guy start 3 weeks before this guy retired. It's no coincidence that the work dried up once we had a new guy to feed. Dumb as hell. And I guess there's another new guy starting in Feb. He came from BMW school, but the quote from the owner was "Oh, he's only going to get 40 hrs a week". Well....that's time you're taking away from the rest of us ASSHOLE!

And yea, that does seem like a Progressive move! What kills me is, you go to these I-CAR classes...insurance adjusters are always in the classes with you (at least around here, not sure about out there) so they SEE the RIGHT way to repair these cars...but they still won't pay you to and expect you to hack stuff up. I remember fixing a Nissan Altima bumper for 5 hours, obviously needed replaced. I asked the I-CAR instructor of a plastic repair class about it, and he said "If you have to write 5 hrs on a bumper, it needs replaced". But, how do you convince the insurance companies that?!! They care about being I-CAR gold so they can be a DRP for you, but they don't care about fixing these cars to I-CAR standards.


I hate this business.../endrant. lol

 

[JosueLT]

'09 Audi today......quarter's all smashed.

 

[YOUNG]

Thanks!

Hopefully you (guys) can take a little bit away from this thread, and have more of an idea on what to look for when you pick your rides up from the shop.

How bad is your car?

i need two new door skins, new front bumper cover, fix back bumper cover, front right fender dent the size of your fist, new driver side rear rim.

 

[itstrick]

It's good seeing shops stay in business for that long, means they're doing something right!

Ours was started in 1947. The original owner started it, then his son/current owner bought it in the late 80's, and now his son is the general manager. His daughter also comes in 3 days a week as an estimator, but she's atrocious at it and all she does is gum up the works. We have 7 bodymen, 4 painters, a combo guy, 2 estimators, parts guy, 5 detailers, receptionist, 2 office girls (IT/HR) general manager, daughter, owner, and a few old, retired guys (from other careers) who run cars, run customers, pick up parts when needed, etc. One of those guys even retired from this shop, now he comes in and does maintenance...over 55 years at this place!! It's incredible hearing stories of how they fixed cars back then.

Sometimes it's tough to make money at a shop with so many mouths to feed though. The owner doesn't really care either, he'd rather have 25 people making 15hrs a week, than 5-6 making 90...anything to get the jobs out the door and make them more money. We just had another guy retire (63, but he's only been here for 14 years), and instead of waiting to fill his spot until after he retired, or maybe coordinating it so the new guy would pick up where this guy left off....he had the new guy start 3 weeks before this guy retired. It's no coincidence that the work dried up once we had a new guy to feed. Dumb as hell. And I guess there's another new guy starting in Feb. He came from BMW school, but the quote from the owner was "Oh, he's only going to get 40 hrs a week". Well....that's time you're taking away from the rest of us ASSHOLE!

And yea, that does seem like a Progressive move! What kills me is, you go to these I-CAR classes...insurance adjusters are always in the classes with you (at least around here, not sure about out there) so they SEE the RIGHT way to repair these cars...but they still won't pay you to and expect you to hack stuff up. I remember fixing a Nissan Altima bumper for 5 hours, obviously needed replaced. I asked the I-CAR instructor of a plastic repair class about it, and he said "If you have to write 5 hrs on a bumper, it needs replaced". But, how do you convince the insurance companies that?!! They care about being I-CAR gold so they can be a DRP for you, but they don't care about fixing these cars to I-CAR standards.


I hate this business.../endrant. lol

I know how that goes some times, we have 5 body techs 4 painters a tear down person at each location 5 estimators and one part time person that does all the running and shop cleanup. One of our body techs and One of our painters were here when the place originally here when the place started. The Owner right now is still the owner that started the place (mainly semi retired). The shops run themselves while he vacations.

One of the guys was telling me back in the day that they could get eight or nine hours to replace a radiator support, and now we are working on a 2012 Focus (yeah not much of a car) but the radiator support is 2.5 hours! I mean seriously 2.5 hours! Sometimes you cant win in the business but you have to take the good with the bad.

 

[JosueLT]

i need two new door skins, new front bumper cover, fix back bumper cover, front right fender dent the size of your fist, new driver side rear rim.

Doesn't sound too bad. Hope they do a good job for ya.

I know how that goes some times, we have 5 body techs 4 painters a tear down person at each location 5 estimators and one part time person that does all the running and shop cleanup. One of our body techs and One of our painters were here when the place originally here when the place started. The Owner right now is still the owner that started the place (mainly semi retired). The shops run themselves while he vacations.

One of the guys was telling me back in the day that they could get eight or nine hours to replace a radiator support, and now we are working on a 2012 Focus (yeah not much of a car) but the radiator support is 2.5 hours! I mean seriously 2.5 hours! Sometimes you cant win in the business but you have to take the good with the bad.

That's the only shining light for me in this business...the money, at times. lol

One of my favorites are these plastic, bolt in radiator supports. Like this morning, I put one in on a '07 Kia Spectra. Paid 4 or 5 hours, plus time to suck down and recharge the A/C (usually at least another 2 hours of mechanical time here), and I didn't have more than a half hour swapping the 2 out. :wootwoot: I've done so many VW supports over the years, I can do them with my eyes closed, so I usually make a killing on them as well. But, VW had to go and be Germans and change the design on the new Jetta's to something more difficult than it has to be. Now you have to disconnect the A/C, because the lines go through the support. And there's an ASS TON of adjustment every which way, so it takes forever to get the front end lined up. Figures too....we're becoming a VW certified shop as well, so we're going to get a LOT more of them. Ack...

 

[07ChevyTruck]

Keep up that good work there Josue.

 

[JosueLT]

:wootwoot:


Audi's over in paint. 14hr's worth of repair, done in 5.

Stud gun w/my special pair of vice grips.

Test fitting the bumper.

Finished. Sorry your over priced Volkswagen is full of bondo guy.

Sorted through the parts on my LS460.

Suspension...

Couple structural pieces. Missing this one piece up by the hood hinge...it's gonna require me to pull the master cylinder and brake booster....FML! And they're still trying to supplement a rocker for it. I need to get the suspension together so I can drive it on my frame rack to make pulls to it. The insurance company wants us to "try" and repair it....which means all I'm going to do is yank the hell out of it until something rips, then tell them it needs replaced! They don't pay us to "try". Gotta play the game their way..

Engine supported (somewhat lol) so I could swap the cradle.

I've run into this a few times...cars not having any brackets to hook a hoist or support. Had to get creative with a few available studs.

I still supported it from the bottom too though, never can be too sure!

Giant sway bar and self contained, electric power steering rack! Pretty nifty...

Random...this caliper is flippin HUGE! I've been told I have larger than average hands (XL glove), if that gives you an idea of these things. lol

 

[07ChevyTruck]

Looks like Josue is well on his way to making yet another customer .

 

[JosueLT]

 

[TB2k4]

Great work man!! Its nice to know theres shops out there that are doing great work! The step by step really shows everyone how much of a process it can be

 

[07ChevyTruck]

Josue - Making people happy one repair at a time.

 

[JosueLT]

I do what I can!

 

[07ChevyTruck]

I do what I can!

Can you repair a broken day?

 

[JosueLT]

Sorry, I can't do that.

 

[itstrick]

Just a small Yukon XL Denali hit were working on

View attachment 18360

 

[07ChevyTruck]

Sorry, I can't do that.

Oh Damn! Guess I'll just have to hope the days ahead will be better.

Just a small Yukon XL Denali hit were working on

View attachment 3398

The pic is dated in 06. Guess your camera needs a date adjustment.

 

[itstrick]

Oh Damn! Guess I'll just have to hope the days ahead will be better.



The pic is dated in 06. Guess your camera needs a date adjustment.

Ha, yeah someone should update that

 

[JosueLT]

I like doing full sizes, usually pretty easy. Haven't done any new ones, but it looks like they're the same still.

Light hit on a WRX this week. Had some mods on it...probably a fun little car!

And I LOVE me some Trailblazers!! hahaha

 

[Sparky]

Too bad the front edge of that hood didn't get dinged a bit, the owner could have gotten that rust spot fixed at the same time.

 

[JosueLT]

The rust spot is actually a lot bigger than it appears in the pics. lol About the size of a baseball, and it's dented in a bit because the metal is so weak there now. I saw a note on the car that said there may be customer pay work for a new hood or something.

 

[Matt]

Josh,

If the customer does something about the hood, can you let me know the details...you know what mine looks like.

 

[07ChevyTruck]

I'm sure the WXR is a fun car. Just never got into the Subaru brand.

Can't wait to see how the Trail Blazer truns out.

 

[JosueLT]

Josh,

If the customer does something about the hood, can you let me know the details...you know what mine looks like.

Yea, details are.....it needs a new hood! lol

I'm sure the WXR is a fun car. Just never got into the Subaru brand.

Can't wait to see how the Trail Blazer truns out.

I'm not big into WRX's either....I think they sound like shit.

 

[Matt]

Yea, details are.....it needs a new hood! lol

Smartarse! How much, out the door, for a new hood, painted and probably guards blended?

 

[07ChevyTruck]

I'm not big into WRX's either....I think they sound like shit.

I don't like the sound of the imports either. Unless you are talking the high end stuff that we can't afford.

 

[Black_tb]

View attachment 18424



im guessing this isnt one of your fixes ?