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Have you faced the inevitable
when your car gets a scratch or dent from people who
park too close to you or when a motorcyclist misjudges
the gap and scrapes the fender on your car ? Well, these
minor scrapes should not cause you too much concern,
especially when you take your vehicle back to a 'Body
and Paint Centre'. The B & P centers, located in most
major towns, have all the facilities to get your car
looking virtually as good as new for a very little cost.
But best of all, they will give you the best job you can
find for your car that comes with a guarantee too. Big
or small, the job is never too difficult for the B & P
centers and each vehicle will be given the same four
steps in making your car smile
again. firstly, the surface ahs to be prepared
for proper paint adhesion. This means that any dents are
taken out and where necessary, putty is used to smoothen
parts that have either been welded or knocked back into
place. The quality of the putty is important as poor
quality putty will crack over time. After the putty is
applied and cured, sanding is done to ensure that there
are no rough edges where the putty and original bodywork
meet.
The base primer is then applied. The correct primer
is critical for different surfaces and this must be
carefully matched to the different kinds of paintwork,
such as metallic and mica. Once the primer has been
cured, the surface is cleaned. this is to ensure that
the surface is dust and grease-free. even hand marks
that are invisible to the naked eye can cause paint
defects, so solvents are used to clean the surface of
all contaminants. Once all the surfaces have been
cleaned and the surrounding areas masked off with
special non-absorbent sheets, the vehicles get pushed
into temperature-controlled booths for the spray job.
The spray painting process itself starts with careful
matching of the color. Each of these B & P centers are
equipped with paint-mixing equipment that is able to
provide the painters with a tint that is as close as
possible to what is on the vehicle. While most paints
may look the same under normal daylight conditions, it
can look very different under different light sources, a
phenomenon known as Metamerism.
This i why B & P centers have special light boxes which
are lit using different lighting to perfectly match the
color and tint of the vehicle to be painted. The B & P
centers work closely with the assembly plant as well as
the paint manufacturer to ensure that the exact
formulation is achieved consistently.
Once the paint is matched, the spray painter has to
prepare the temperature of the booth to set the curing
requirement of the paint thinner. Different paint
processes also require different temperature settings,
so the spray painter will have to follow strict
procedures to get consistent results. Filtration from he
top and bottom of the booth ensures that no dust or
overspray settles back on the vehicle that would
otherwise rob the surface of a brilliant shine. Each
vehicle undergoes a complete process of respray,
including a base coat, color coat and top coat. Then it
receives three layers of lacquer to give it that deep
sheen. Once the paint is cured in the booth, it is
pushed out and polished. Here it also undergoes a final
QC before being released to the customer. |
