# Rear Quarter & Door Repair. Can it be done by a SMART repair guy?



## Brad93 (Aug 9, 2012)

Hi all, some twit drove into the side of my car, anyways insurance have paid me £941 as the car wasn't economical to repair in a body shop apparently.

What options have I got here? There is also a small crease in the door and a fair few scratches through to primer.


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## Brad93 (Aug 9, 2012)




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## Brad93 (Aug 9, 2012)




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## Porkypig (Jun 20, 2012)

A good PDR guy would get rid of most of the dent damage, the crowns above and below the plastic trim accentuate the distortion and could definitely be softened and the panel straightened up.

Then give someone like Revive a call for the paint work and get a quote for a local on the damage below the trim. :thumb:


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## Sadsy (Jul 23, 2013)

With it been silver, it's more noticeable, like above any decent pdr guy will have it tapped out in no time, not a hard one to do really


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## Luke-Avfc (Jul 2, 2006)

Hi mate. 

I work in the bodyshop industry so my advice would be don't bother painting it. Silver is by far and away the hardest finish to match and you will end up having the whole side of the car painted to get it all blend. Also mobile paint technicians will never get the finish of a bodyshop as the prep is always rushed and spaying outdoors will always attract contaminants to the finish as opposed to a professional spray booth and oven. As for the dent any decent PDR guy should be able to work on it and get the majority of it out. 

Also mate make sure you keep those pic's for any potential new buyer as the car will now be recorded as a Cat D write off on the HPI register. That's minimal damage you got there but as i said they would have to paint most of the o/s of the car plus the dent work & labour makes it beyond economical repair. As you know most people hear the word write off they automatically think you've hit a brick wall at 70mph and the car was recovered in pieces. The pic's will show them exactly the extent of the damage as opposed to you trying to convince them otherwise.

Hope that helps.

Luke


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## Benn (Aug 22, 2007)

Bodyshop job everytime.

If you must a smart guy is only basic scuff and a bit of paint. Even then think wisely.

A bodyshop will fully repair and paint that to a much better standard and finish.


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## craigeh123 (Dec 26, 2011)

Ive seen some great repairs by smart guys and **** ones , same as bodyshops , Andy and squiggs can advise you if its smartable or not . But i agree silver is an **** ! My Mrs moondust silver focus has a couple of marks id do but i just know it will look **** !


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## PootleFlump (Jan 1, 2006)

bodyshops are not always as expensive as people think, sometimes the cheap smart repair man will charge more.


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## squiggs (Oct 19, 2009)

craigeh123 said:


> Ive seen some great repairs by smart guys and **** ones , same as bodyshops , Andy and squiggs can advise you if its smartable or not . But i agree silver is an **** ! My Mrs moondust silver focus has a couple of marks id do but i just know it will look **** !


Cheers ....:thumb: .....
... but you know what - I can't be bothered cos I've just realised I'm in the wrong part of the trade!

*"I work in the bodyshop industry so my advice would be don't bother painting it. Silver is by far and away the hardest finish to match and you will end up having the whole side of the car painted to get it all blend. Also mobile paint technicians will never get the finish of a bodyshop as the prep is always rushed and spaying outdoors will always attract contaminants to the finish as opposed to a professional spray booth and oven. As for the dent any decent PDR guy should be able to work on it and get the majority of it out."*

No matter how long they've been in the trade Smart repairers can't spray, but anybody that ever once held (or has even seen) a spraygun inside a bodyshop instantly becomes an expert sprayer.

Even if it's his only job of the day a Smart repairer won't have enough time to do the job properly. 
Compare that to the I've got all the time in the world, feet up, laid back, take three hours for lunch before you put the kettle on attitude that every bodyshop adopts.

Every bodyshop is so sterile it could double as an hospital operating theatre and with the right tools heart transplants could be safely performed in any one of them right now. 
Smart repairers only work in sandstorms, near a muddy puddles with traffic splashing through them or over the top of a dead badgers corpse that the flies are buzzing around - and they most definatly never work in a unit.

A scratch no matter where it is or how small it is, especially on a silver, will without doubt always require half the car to be resprayed at the very least.

All in all bodyshops seem to have the edge


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## toddy23 (Jun 16, 2012)

i have a prefab garage and do just a gooda job in there as if i was in a spray booth,if its all prepped the same you can do just a gooda job,in fact painters who i have worked with in the past with all the best conditions of ovens etc where ****ing useless and have been doing years and years


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## DJ X-Ray (Sep 2, 2012)

I've seen good smart repairs, but personally i'd take it to a bodyshop, simply cos one of my family's in the trade


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## Luke-Avfc (Jul 2, 2006)

squiggs said:


> Cheers ....:thumb: .....
> ... but you know what - I can't be bothered cos I've just realised I'm in the wrong part of the trade!
> 
> *"I work in the bodyshop industry so my advice would be don't bother painting it. Silver is by far and away the hardest finish to match and you will end up having the whole side of the car painted to get it all blend. Also mobile paint technicians will never get the finish of a bodyshop as the prep is always rushed and spaying outdoors will always attract contaminants to the finish as opposed to a professional spray booth and oven. As for the dent any decent PDR guy should be able to work on it and get the majority of it out."*
> ...


Ok I take your point and take some of that back 

I was referring to in the main the big franchises ie chips away etc. Obviously a one man band or small business rely alot on word of mouth recommendations so take more of a pride in there work I'd assume. At the end of the day It's down to personal preference. Having worked in the trade 15 years I've seen some right bodge jobs both mobile and bodyshop repairs but from what I've seen & again I'm talking the big franchises here I wouldn't let them anywhere near my Mrs £2k Street Ka let alone my Mk2 golf with a spay gun on the driveway. Again with bodyshops most private work is done on recommendation as opposed to just walking in off the street so In the main it's down to personal preference & experiences.

Luke


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## robdcfc (Sep 17, 2012)

Luke-Avfc said:


> Ok I take your point and take some of that back
> 
> I was referring to in the main the big franchises ie chips away etc. Obviously a one man band or small business rely alot on word of mouth recommendations so take more of a pride in there work I'd assume. At the end of the day It's down to personal preference. Having worked in the trade 15 years I've seen some right bodge jobs both mobile and bodyshop repairs but from what I've seen & again I'm talking the big franchises here I wouldn't let them anywhere near my Mrs £2k Street Ka let alone my Mk2 golf with a spay gun on the driveway. Again with bodyshops most private work is done on recommendation as opposed to just walking in off the street so In the main it's down to personal preference & experiences.
> 
> Luke


I have a Chipsaway franchise and I see plenty of poor bodyshop jobs, why does it have to be the franchise lads that do the poor job? What proof do you have it wasn't and Indy that bought a van from EBay and had no training at all etc?

I'll put my work against any bodyshops, in fact these days I pretty much only do sports and prestige and that's from word of mouth about what sort if job we do.

I wonder if this silly arguement will ever end? I never slag of my competitors it's just not good practice.

Rob


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## Andyb0127 (Jan 16, 2011)

robdcfc said:


> I have a Chipsaway franchise and I see plenty of poor bodyshop jobs, why does it have to be the franchise lads that do the poor job? What proof do you have it wasn't and Indy that bought a van from EBay and had no training at all etc?
> 
> I'll put my work against any bodyshops, in fact these days I pretty much only do sports and prestige and that's from word of mouth about what sort if job we do.
> 
> ...


It will never end mate, always be the same cliche. Probably has no proof just assuming like they all do and talking a load of b0ll0cks.


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## squiggs (Oct 19, 2009)

Luke-Avfc said:


> Ok I take your point and take some of that back
> 
> I was referring to in the main the big franchises ie chips away etc. Obviously a one man band or small business rely alot on word of mouth recommendations so take more of a pride in there work I'd assume. At the end of the day It's down to personal preference. Having worked in the trade 15 years I've seen some right bodge jobs both mobile and bodyshop repairs but from what I've seen & again I'm talking the big franchises here I wouldn't let them anywhere near my Mrs £2k Street Ka let alone my Mk2 golf with a spay gun on the driveway. Again with bodyshops most private work is done on recommendation as opposed to just walking in off the street so In the main it's down to personal preference & experiences.
> 
> Luke


Franchised chaps own and run their own businesses - if they don't take pride in their work then in exactly the same way as you would expect a lacklustre independent to fail in their business so will a franchised chap.

There is no logical reason whatsoever that a good franchisee can't have the same skill and pride as a good independent (and of course there's no reason why a bad independent can't be matched by a bad franchisee)

It's the individual doing the job that the skill and pride lies within - not the name he's trading under


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## andystevens (Dec 12, 2011)

benn said:


> bodyshop job everytime.
> 
> If you must a smart guy is only basic scuff and a bit of paint. Even then think wisely.
> 
> A bodyshop will fully repair and paint that to a much better standard and finish.


+ 1....


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## CD Cornwall (Aug 12, 2010)

Benn said:


> Bodyshop job everytime.
> 
> If you must a smart guy is only basic scuff and a bit of paint. Even then think wisely.
> 
> A bodyshop will fully repair and paint that to a much better standard and finish.


I have a body shop and only do smart repairs - the process is identical. Where does that leave me?

Cheers
David


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## robdcfc (Sep 17, 2012)

CD Cornwall said:


> I have a body shop and only do smart repairs - the process is identical. Where does that leave me?
> 
> Cheers
> David


And robots!!!


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## Andyb0127 (Jan 16, 2011)

CD Cornwall said:


> I have a body shop and only do smart repairs - the process is identical. Where does that leave me?
> 
> Cheers
> David


same here mate, I work in a smart repair centre. Who knows where it leaves us may aswell hang me guns up.


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## Andyb0127 (Jan 16, 2011)

Benn said:


> Bodyshop job everytime.
> 
> If you must a smart guy is only basic scuff and a bit of paint. Even then think wisely.
> 
> A bodyshop will fully repair and paint that to a much better standard and finish.


obvioulsly you don't know much about the repair process. If you think a bodyshop will be a much better finish than a smart repair, when the process is the same, next you'll be saying there's no such thing as a decent smart repair, joining the other feck wits that haven't got a clue.


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## Andyb0127 (Jan 16, 2011)

Porkypig said:


> A good PDR guy would get rid of most of the dent damage, the crowns above and below the plastic trim accentuate the distortion and could definitely be softened and the panel straightened up.
> 
> Then give someone like Revive a call for the paint work and get a quote for a local on the damage below the trim. :thumb:


probably the best advice, then worst case you may have to have damage below the mouldings painted, I know a pdr guy in Essex if you want I'll pm you his number if you want it. :thumb:


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## squiggs (Oct 19, 2009)

Brad93 said:


> Hi all, some twit drove into the side of my car, anyways insurance have paid me £941 as the car wasn't economical to repair in a body shop apparently.
> 
> What options have I got here? There is also a small crease in the door and a fair few scratches through to primer.


Where exactly are you in S.E. Essex?
Depending on your answer I'm prepared to be a fall guy! 
I recon between a PDR guy I know and myself we can put it right - and I doubt it'll cost all of your payout :thumb:


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## Benn (Aug 22, 2007)

Andyb0127 said:


> obvioulsly you don't know much about the repair process. If you think a bodyshop will be a much better finish than a smart repair, when the process is the same, next you'll be saying there's no such thing as a decent smart repair, joining the other feck wits that haven't got a clue.


I spend 6 years working in a bodyshop, doing panel beating and spraying. So i do have a clue thank you.

1, Smart repair work is done out side, so dust/grit/pollen anything can blow into/under the paint.

2, As most SR will only do small local repair work, they will only mask up a small part of the car, mean any over that occurs will hit and stick to the car.

3, Most* SR wont do any large dent repair. Due to the larger amount of time involved.

Where as a bodyshop...

1, Will be painted in a clean oven, so dust is almost nothing.

2, Bodyshops will mask the repair area and then cover over the whole car, meaning no over spray at all.

3, A bodyshop will do all size repairs, dents will be knocked out first before being filled to get the final shape, they can and will also remove and replace full panels on cars. They have most time to do the work so anything can be done.

I added the * as not all SR guys are crap, there are a few that are good. But alot have min training, most in just local small paint work repairs. Not panel beating and filling. There are some tho that can do full repair work.


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## craigeh123 (Dec 26, 2011)

Benn smart repairs are meant to be a4 sized and under . And some smart repairers use boiths . I agree ive seen some **** smart repairs but that was down to the painter


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## MK1Campaign (Mar 27, 2007)

Your quarter has a huge round crease looking at that picture. Its even creased above the moulding. Will be a bodyshop.


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## Benn (Aug 22, 2007)

craigeh123 said:


> Benn smart repairs are meant to be a4 sized and under . And some smart repairers use boiths . I agree ive seen some **** smart repairs but that was down to the painter


Really? Never heard that before, but that makes sense as most bumper scuffs are under A4 size.


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## craigeh123 (Dec 26, 2011)

Andy said should be below a4 and hes now a smart repairer so i just listened to what he had to say .


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## Cthrower (Sep 19, 2011)

Smart = Small to Medium Area Repair Techniques
Not "Paint cars outside in the wind next to a dusty field while it's pouring with acid rain and thunder storms"

Smart repairs are simply a technique used to do small to medium repairs, not at any point in history has it been true that smart repairers don't, and never do, have access to unit's or booths, skill, knowledge or the correct equipment. 
I don't understand peoples ignorance when it comes to this stuff. I guess it's people jumping on the bandwagon and listening to their friends cousin who met a bloke at the pub once who had a bad repair when a mobile sprayer repainted his stretch Hummer back in 1995 during a hurricane or something.
The problems are with the people doing the work, and not the techniques they're using, thus a smart repair will only be as good as the person(s) doing it. Conversely I've seen some shocking repairs done by local body shops to me, paint peeling/flaking, bad orange peel etc, now does that mean we all have the right to say that body shops are all useless?
Therefore, there is no real reason or fact as to why a smart repair, whether done inside or out, should be of any less quality or standard as that of a repair carried out in a body shop

I wonder if people have the same opinions when it comes to local tradesmen such as a mobile welder, maybe they suck too because they aren't working in a unit and never have access to any such luxury?!
Or even, mobile detailers maybe they're all sh*t too because the dust blows on your car while they're polishing it outside? Ridiculous!


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## toddy23 (Jun 16, 2012)

ok what ever you want to call it smart repair,local blend etc,this is how i do them at work and at home,i dont know where the A4 paper came from but i use what lines i can as you will see.also i finish work at 4pm,this car came at 5pm and it was painted by 6pm in water base and clear
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh277/toddydal/IMG_0264_zpsd0e5b7b6.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh277/toddydal/IMG_0266_zps0f41275d.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh277/toddydal/IMG_0267_zps7b36913f.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh277/toddydal/IMG_0269_zps50bff7fd.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh277/toddydal/IMG_0270_zps362b6ef5.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh277/toddydal/IMG_0271_zps1b5835e7.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh277/toddydal/IMG_0272_zps0fb5e442.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh277/toddydal/IMG_0274_zps27b1187a.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh277/toddydal/IMG_0275_zpsa175ba07.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh277/toddydal/IMG_0276_zpsf4e1a3ea.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh277/toddydal/IMG_0277_zpsbc095151.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh277/toddydal/IMG_0278_zpsb151e002.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh277/toddydal/IMG_0279_zps341520ac.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh277/toddydal/IMG_0280_zpsb79485b7.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh277/toddydal/IMG_0281_zps6baa1ec2.jpg


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## Andyb0127 (Jan 16, 2011)

Benn said:


> Really? Never heard that before, but that makes sense as most bumper scuffs are under A4 size.


Regardless of you spending 6 years in a bodyshop. In your own admittance you didn't even know the above, so what I said about you not having much knowledge about it was right, pretty basic description of the size of a smart repair, which aren't just localised to bumper scuffs, any panel can be smart repaired, im a smart repairer we work in a unit and have a smart cabin for spraying, the cars are fully sheeted as you would in a spraybooth. And the quailty is exactly the same as a bodyshop. Which im sure all the smart repairers and bodyshop painters on this forum will be just as particular with there paint.


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## Andyb0127 (Jan 16, 2011)

Cthrower said:


> Smart = Small to Medium Area Repair Techniques
> Not "Paint cars outside in the wind next to a dusty field while it's pouring with acid rain and thunder storms"
> 
> Smart repairs are simply a technique used to do small to medium repairs, not at any point in history has it been true that smart repairers don't, and never do, have access to unit's or booths, skill, knowledge or the correct equipment.
> ...


perhaps Benn needs to read this, spot on summary.


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## Andyb0127 (Jan 16, 2011)

toddy23 said:


> ok what ever you want to call it smart repair,local blend etc,this is how i do them at work and at home,i dont know where the A4 paper came from but i use what lines i can as you will see.also i finish work at 4pm,this car came at 5pm and it was painted by 6pm in water base and clear
> http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh277/toddydal/IMG_0264_zpsd0e5b7b6.jpg
> http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh277/toddydal/IMG_0266_zps0f41275d.jpg
> http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh277/toddydal/IMG_0267_zps7b36913f.jpg
> ...


your not doing it right, your meant to be outside in the rain, gale force ten wind, shyte blowing round every where, and you've put a sheet over the whole car.

Nice work mate. :thumb:


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## toddy23 (Jun 16, 2012)

thanks,every one has there own way for doing local blends,i cant stand arosol fade out thinner and im a old school painter so i use fade out thinners(slow thinner and for my fade out i mix it 50/50 with a little clearcoat and blend it at 1bar into my scotch area and it polishes up perfect


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## craigeh123 (Dec 26, 2011)

Nice work above


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## Andyb0127 (Jan 16, 2011)

toddy23 said:


> thanks,every one has there own way for doing local blends,i cant stand arosol fade out thinner and im a old school painter so i use fade out thinners(slow thinner and for my fade out i mix it 50/50 with a little clearcoat and blend it at 1bar into my scotch area and it polishes up perfect


same here mate, old school trained can't stand aerosol fade out either. More control using fadeout thinner through a spraygun. :thumb:


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## Benn (Aug 22, 2007)

Andyb0127 said:


> Regardless of you spending 6 years in a bodyshop. In your own admittance you didn't even know the above, so what I said about you not having much knowledge about it was right, pretty basic description of the size of a smart repair, which aren't just localised to bumper scuffs, any panel can be smart repaired, im a smart repairer we work in a unit and have a smart cabin for spraying, the cars are fully sheeted as you would in a spraybooth. And the quailty is exactly the same as a bodyshop. Which im sure all the smart repairers and bodyshop painters on this forum will be just as particular with there paint.


I would never say i know everything as i dont.
I've also said that not ever SR guy/company is like this/the same. In REf to reading what Cthrower said.

I'm going on what i've seen and been around. None of the SR i know have units or cabin. All of them work from a van out side, hence alot of the bad results. I've never seen a single one of them fully sheet a car either, which to me is shocking.
This is where my knowledge of SR work comes from. I've also had to fix repairs that where very badly done. Sadly i've only seen one repair that was well done. And it was only a small part of a bumper that had edges so was masked to them, it was then painted in a valeting bay at a dealer's showroom.

And i had never heard that SR repair are meant to be A4 size. As i've seen them doing much bigger.

But i would never say all SR guys are crap. As i know some have worked in bodyshops and know what they are doing.


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## squiggs (Oct 19, 2009)

Benn said:


> I'm going on what i've seen and been around. None of the SR i know have units or cabin. All of them work from a van out side, hence alot of the bad results. I've never seen a single one of them fully sheet a car either, which to me is shocking.
> This is where my knowledge of SR work comes from. I've also had to fix repairs that where very badly done. Sadly i've only seen one repair that was well done. And it was only a small part of a bumper that had edges so was masked to them, it was then painted in a valeting bay at a dealer's showroom.
> 
> And i had never heard that SR repair are meant to be A4 size. As i've seen them doing much bigger.
> ...


A good SR that works outside shouldn't need to sheet a whole car.
SR uses much smaller guns that produce almost no overspray. And being as the work is done outside where there is air movement the very small amount of overspray that is created is carried away.
If I do a bumper corner or arch with my SR guns there really is no point in sheeting the whole car simply because the small amount of overspray won't reach the rest of the car. Just to emphasise this point I can say that I regularly park my van within 4 feet of the job I'm doing and have been doing so for the five years I've owned this particular van - and yet it's still white.

I'm starting to think that the jobs you're talking about aren't in fact SMART, but jobs done by ex-bodyshop guys who have simply thrown their big bodyshop guns into the back of a van and started doing mobile jobs - jobs that really should be kept in a bodyshop. 
There's a huge difference between the two :thumb:

As a side note: That good job you saw must have been lucky on the sprayers part. I'd never spray in a valeting bay - the risk of silicon contamination is far too great.


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## Benn (Aug 22, 2007)

squiggs said:


> A good SR that works outside shouldn't need to sheet a whole car.
> SR uses much smaller guns that produce almost no overspray. And being as the work is done outside where there is air movement the very small amount of overspray that is created is carried away.
> If I do a bumper corner or arch with my SR guns there really is no point in sheeting the whole car simply because the small amount of overspray won't reach the rest of the car. Just to emphasise this point I can say that I regularly park my van within 4 feet of the job I'm doing and have been doing so for the five years I've owned this particular van - and yet it's still white.
> 
> ...


Using a small "blow in gun" yes? I've seen them use both, watching one guy i see alot at 3 dealers that are local to me. He using a larger gun and you can see the over spray going everywhere, i've seen him cleaning off a car that was next to him before. I took it that was all down to over spray as you could see it hitting the car.

The guy above has a stickered up van and cards with SR on then, but i dont know anymore of his background. So he might just be calling him self it.

The valeting bay job i was surprised at, but there was not a single "fish eye" or anything.


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## Brad93 (Aug 9, 2012)

Hi all, got paid out for the car. they done me a cash in lieu settlement. 

Have so far contacted a PDR (repair-a-dent.co.uk) & local body shop (Balgores Farringdon) where a friend works. 

May get a quote from a place in basildon that is very cheap and i have used before. Colourtone iirc.

Will see what they come back with. To be honest i don't want to go spending mad amounts on it, so id like to spend less than £350-400 on it. But i'm just not sure if that is gonna be possible?

With a slide hammer i thing the crease will come out okay, small amount of filler should sort it. Obviously the issue is going to be blending the paint. I've already had this side of the car painted and blended before!

Also have a small 10p size car park dink on other side i would like sorted. Along with front bumper sanded & sprayed


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## squiggs (Oct 19, 2009)

With the additional info that the side has already been previously painted I'd now defo suggest a sprayshop - the reason being:
This is a silver that has about 20 alternatives - to match to the alternative used on the previous repair could be very problematic and large scale blending could be required.


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