Auto Body Repair Technology

Book Preface

Welcome to the rewarding world of auto body repair! Whether you simply want to make minor repairs on your own car or to become an ASE-certified collision repair technician, you will find this book a valuable resource. Auto Body Repair Technology details how to properly restore a damaged vehicle to a “like new” condition from “start to finish.”It is designed to help you work on any make and model passenger car,pickup truck,van,or sports utility vehicle (SUV).

Auto body repair, also called collision repair, is an exciting area to study.With millions of vehicles on the road today, there is a strong demand for well-trained collision repair technicians. Thousands of technicians are needed in the industry every year. Just look in the newspaper and you will find numerous openings for skilled people to work in body shops.With today’s high-tech vehicles and varied construction methods and repair techniques, competent collision repair takes well-trained, knowledgeable professionals.

This new edition has been extensively rewritten and reillustrated in full color to maintain leadership in auto body repair training. It summarizes accepted methodsof
repairing a collision-damaged vehicle and provides an even better “step-by-step ladder” to success. The text has been organized into 7 sections and 29 chapters.

Section 1 provides an introduction to the industry. It explains all of the basic information that pertains to the industry in general. Section 2 covers estimating and has new material on electronic estimating and shop management software. Section 3 covers minor repairs—the kinds of repair tasks that can be done by a novice or trainee. Section 4 explains major body/frame repairs, including topics such as vehicle frame damage measurement and repair. Section 5 summarizes mechanical and electrical repairs to the steering,suspension,and brake system parts,which are often damaged in a major accident. Section 6 details refinishing and how to prep and paint the vehicle. The last section explains how professionalism will help you prosper as a collision repair expert.

The text flows more like work actually does in the industry. For example, estimating is covered right after the fundamentals section because estimating is the first task when a vehicle needs repair. The estimate outlines what must be done to repair the vehicle. Proper estimating helps technicians plan and execute quality repairs.

Writing is all about communication between the writer and the reader. This edition of Auto Body Repair Technology is the most “readable” edition ever published.We have worked hard to make the book easier to understand without diminishing its technical completeness. Textbooks are just one part of a vocational technical education; it is our sincere desire that this book add something positive to that education.

Unless experienced in collision repair, you will have to learn hundreds of new technical terms,which make up the “language”of collision repair personnel.These vocabulary terms are highlighted so that you know that the word must be learned and understood before reading on. Every effort has been made to help you identify new key terms and explain them on first use.

Auto Body Repair Technology has been used by thousands of students and continues to this day to be a market leader. All of the people involved in the publishing of this book hope that you will appreciate its improvements. Most of all, we hope that the students hoping to become collision repair professionals will take from this book the information they need to get started the right way. Examples of this include:

• Full-color chapters. The fifth edition is now completely in full color,bringing the text to life with more detailed and realistic photos and illustrations of collision repair technologies.

• Artwork. This edition has hundreds of new four-color photos to aid and speed learning. If a “picture is worth a thousand words,” then this newly revised book has the equivalent of a “million words” in picture form. Hundreds of new photos have been added so you can better see how to properly repair and repaint a vehicle. We think you will find it to be the most current of all collision repair books in print.

• Increased coverage is now given to high-strength steels, aluminum panels, plastics, and composite part repair. This reflects the trend to use lighter materials in the construction of the modern vehicle.

• Greater emphasis on ASE certification has been built into the content of this book. Its content is organized around NATEF competency tasks for collision repair. A cross-reference of NATEF tasks and where they are covered in this book is included in the instructor’s manual.

• This book has refined end-of-chapter exercises, including ASE-style and essay questions and critical thinking problems. Math problems relevant to the collision repair student are now included in every chapter.

• Every effort has been made to make this book accurate. Collision repair teachers, experts in the field, and others were brought in to review this book and ensure its accuracy. We worked with all of their comments and criticisms.

• A Student Technician’s Manual, written by an experienced automotive collision repair teacher, has been developed as a supplemental learning tool. The job sheets provide detailed directions for doing hands-on learning activities.They outline and question students as they complete competency-based learning tasks.

• We have revised and expanded the instructor’s guide for this edition to include NATEF task correlations in the core text.

Safety is emphasized throughout the text. Safety cautions and warnings appear frequently, and we worked to make sure that all the illustrations represent safe practices. Throughout this book, there are three special notes labeled “Shop Talk,” “Warning,” and “Danger.” Each one has a specific purpose:

1. “Shop Talk” notes give examples of typical conversations between two technicians.Sometimes they show how someone did something wrong,which damaged a part or caused injury. Shop Talk notes also provide “tricks of the trade” for doing better, more efficient repair work.

2. “Warning”notes are given to help prevent technicians from making errors that can damage a vehicle or a tool. These notes provide information about unsafe practices that can cause repair problems,waste time, and cost shops and technicians money for repairs.

3. “Danger” notes remind technicians to be especially careful of those tasks where carelessness can cause personal injury.