How Painting Your Vehicle After A Collision Works

When body work is done on your vehicle after it has been in a collision, your vehicle will most likely also need to have paintwork done.

Why Paint & Bodywork Go Hand In Hand

When your vehicle's body work is damaged, in order to reshape the damaged panels or sections of your vehicle, welding work is typically done as well as other processes that damage the paint on your vehicle. Often times, your body panels are sanded down to the bare metal in order for the welding and other techniques that auto body mechanics use to work effectively. You don't want to fix your vehicle and then leave bare metal exposed. When bare metal is exposed, it can easily result in rust damage. In order to protect the bodywork that was just done on your vehicle, you need to paint it to preserve the metal.

The Painting Process

After the bodywork on your vehicle is completed, the painting process will begin. The painting process can take more hours than just the man-hours you see listed on your quote. You need to factor in the wait time that is necessary in between almost every step in the painting process.

In order to paint your vehicle, first the paint technicians have to sand down the panel so that bare metal is exposed on all sides. Then, they have to clean up all the dust and debris that is now on your body panel; they need a clean surface to work with.

Next, primer is applied to your vehicle. Then, the paint technicians allow the primer to dry. Sometimes, vehicles need multiple coats of primer, so the paint tech has to apply the primer and then wait for each layer of primer to dry.

Once the primer is on your vehicle, then the paint is applied. Just like with the primer, some vehicles require more than one layer of paint, and each layer of paint has to dry before a new layer is applied to your vehicle.

Depending on where the damage was on your vehicle, the paint tech may also have to blend and paint beyond just the repair area so that the new paint doesn't stand out too much from the old paint.

Finally, a clear coat will be sprayed on top of the paint to ensure that it protected.

If your vehicle needs to be painted following extensive bodywork, remember that the time it takes to paint your vehicle will exceed the hours that you pay the tech to paint your vehicle due to all the drying time that is involved in painting. Having your vehicle repainted can add a few days to the overall repair job. 

For more information about the paint process for you vehicle, contact a technician like those at Black Horse Auto Body Shop Inc.