Tips to make your WSR day easier!

[Cryatal_Image]

I do have a question about what people use to polish finished area. Would a used dryer sheet work? Very very fine steel wool?

[t4k]

I do have a question about what people use to polish finished area. Would a used dryer sheet work? Very very fine steel wool?

Use a pit polish and you finger....it works a treat and you will always have it with you. Finish with a quick wipe with a clean soft towel and you are good to go.

[DryStar]

For those that do not put their tool box or bag on the vehicle (using sufficient hood covers) what do you use to protect the paint and finish while you lean up on the vehicle to do a repair? If you do use something and I hope you do, what is the difference?

Nice point made Dave. Although I've never placed a tool box on the hood of a vehicle( I may have used a light tool tray) I've always used a fender and hood protector. Underneath the fender or hood protector, I also have a clean soft cotton terry cloth towel. To this day I've never had one complaint ...whether it was working on a $80,000 vehicle or an $800 one. What I can tell you, I never had a drop of resin touch the paint or ever left a scratch on a painted surface.

[Cryatal_Image]

I do have a question about what people use to polish finished area. Would a used dryer sheet work? Very very fine steel wool?

Use a pit polish and you finger....it works a treat and you will always have it with you. Finish with a quick wipe with a clean soft towel and you are good to go.

ok thank you for the reply

[Dave M]

DryStar,

Good point about resin not dropping on car or no scratches. I am very much pro fender/hood protector and for 18 years have put my equipment on the vehicle, using common sense. Never a complaint. Those that don't use one.....OMG, don't ever drop anything!

[Nomad]

Get one of those pouch things that hang around a five gallon bucket. The outside part will have a larger variety of pockets, and there will be two of them. Sew one to the bottom of the other if you need more pockets for your stuff than just one. Attach 2 1/2 to 3 inch suction cups to the top corners. Fill the pockets with what you need that will fit in them or modify the pockets for your tools in whatever way you need to. Maybe glue 3 or 4 or maybe more plastic tubes of the correct size together to hold syringes, slide hammers, etc. Stick paper towels or whatever into the bottom of overly deep pockets so your stuff doesn't slide down so far you can't easily get it out.

Use the suction cups to hold the whole affair to a vertical motor home or cab over truck w/s. You won't have to go up and down a ladder much at all because all your things will be right there. I have attached a thick rubber or plastic bath mat on the back to avoid any problem with things that might poke through the fabric. I use the same anti skid stuff on the hood and lay the pouch very carefully on this and avoid sliding anything. Have never had a problem with this.

I use 3 cc BD brand syringes. I buy needles at a large animal feed and supply store. They have all stainless steel longer needles in large sizes. Grind the ends down with your dremel. You don't need to grind them completely flat but make sure that they aren't sharp or you will cut or poke yourself. Use heat shrink tubing about half way down on the syringe and shrink it into place with heat from a torch or something, don't get it too hot. If the stainless needle clogs you can heat it with a torch until the resin burns out of it. Hold it with a pair of pliers when doing this or you will melt the end of your syringe. I buy a box of 100 syringes as sometimes they don't last too long. The rubber plunger gets eaten up by the resin. If you use it a lot it will last longer than if you let it sit around. The heat shrink is to prevent UV from setting up the resin, you can tell how much you have in there by pulling the plunger all the way back, and then immediately pushing it in so the resin is covered by the heat shrink. Use black heat shrink. Store in a dark tube as mentioned above or somewhere where UV and heat won't get to it.

I store the pouch rolled up in a fabric tool box (tote)with a folding handle and the center divider removed. Both the pouch affair and the tool box are husky brand from Home Depot. You can vary this to suite yourself if you are interested in making some of these things.

[pommy]

As much as we like or dislike the "putting kit on the hood" tip - it has brought quite a response from forum members, all with very good ideas!

I hope that we all take what we need and our jobs get that little bit easier

Have a great day!

[SGT]

For myself, I do not advocate putting anything on the customers car at this point but a surface protector for some of the very same reasons mentioned and it goes beyond that. For me it comes down to image. A clean and professional image. There is more that a customer takes away from you than the outcome of the repair. They will remember how you represented your company and how you respected there property as well.

That said, I own and operate my business anyway I see fit and the repercussions will be all mine. I respect others who want to run there business they way they want even if I do not agree. So if you want to use a customers vehicle as a workbench, just remember accidents are just that, unexpected incidents which in most cases could have been avoided.

Sharing is an important part of this online community so thanks for the tips. I am sure they have helped members.

[glassdoctor]

They will remember how you represented your company and how you respected there property as well.

Good points... I totally agree 97% , and would suggest everyone thinks carefully how they are doing things.
With proper care and common sense, I do think you can place something on the vehicle right up where you are working, while making a good professional impression. But that depends on how you go about it. We all have to touch and lean on vehicles, and accidents can happen, which is a good reason to use a hood protector of some kind. So if you have a towel, etc on the hood.... I don't think it's unprofessional to rest a few of tools on it. A big heavy tool box? Maybe not so much. Personally, my tool bag is small and light... partly for this very reason.

Even though I normally do use the hood as my workbench , I do so carefully.... and there are certain times I feel it's best not to. Just depends... I trust my own judgement. Never had anyone react funny or say anything. Fortunately, most of my work if fleet accounts and I don't have picky customers standing around watching me.

Tips: Never let the hood protector move... especially if there is a toolbox on it. That's when it will scratch the paint. Never drag it off the car, even if there is nothing on it. Be especially careful with cars that are dirty, cars that look like they haven't been waxed in a long time, and of course black cars no matter what. Oh, and any car with more than like 400hp or rims that cost more than your repair vehicle.

[Cryatal_Image]

lol, yea. I cannot believe how much people spend on those rims. Spinner rims? Come on! oops, out of topic, sorry.