What happened to panelbeating?

**Madness** · 25th March 2013, 17:31

Originally Posted by Flip

Now days the paint is expensive and difficult to match.

Colour matching is computerised these days. Place a sample (fuel cap) under the lens and the pooter does the rest.

**leathel** · 25th March 2013, 17:32

Originally Posted by Flip

Now days the paint is expensive and difficult to match.

Yes... and no

Some of the multi layer pearls can be a bitch but the tinters in good systems are cleaner than they used to be and jobs can be way easier to paint, materials are still expensive...

I run two systems and when one doesn't match of the formula I try a small mix of the other and often they only need a slight tweak... There are some pretty cool tinters and products now and you can generally do the job faster...some of the funky pearls can be expensive per tin though... So paint is up a bit but probably has not kept up with inflation.... and car value has drop compared to inflation

**leathel** · 25th March 2013, 17:33

Originally Posted by Madness

Colour matching is computerised these days. Place a sample (fuel cap) under the lens and the pooter does the rest.

And sometimes its even right

**bogan** · 25th March 2013, 17:44

Originally Posted by Flip

Now days the paint is expensive and difficult to match.

Just go with the 50m match from repco. Doesn't matter what shade it says before the color name, be it chartrues yellow, normal yellow, all looks the same at 50 meters...

I do my panelbeating the same way, weld it, and walk away before flipping the visor to evaluate.

**mashman** · 25th March 2013, 17:48

I use the wife these days as panels used to break my nails.

**carburator** · 25th March 2013, 17:58

rather get the local panel beater to do it all, happens to be leathel of all peaple..

**Gremlin** · 25th March 2013, 18:09

Cars are also a lot more complicated than they used to be, requiring far more work to meet crash standards that never used to exist. The future is now pedestrian protection, otherwise no 5 star rating. All those requirements make things more complicated. Bumpers using to be a square metal bar across the front... no cars have that now (and the older ones usually survive the nose to tails). All the front and rear panels are calculated into crumple zones to keep the passengers safe.

Recently the family mechanics wife was smashed into from behind, by a truck that didn't slow down for Stop/Go at roadworks. She was shunted into the cars in front, 3 cars in all... No boot left on a very large commodore, rear windscreen glass sitting on the front wiper blades.

Ok, so it was never going to be repaired, but at least it kept her out of a wheel chair, which a smaller car probably couldn't...

Plastic composites can't be beaten like metal, and it's being used more and more to reduce weight, create more interesting shapes etc.

**superjackal** · 26th March 2013, 11:36

Originally Posted by Swoop

Sadly it is not just a lost art in that profession. Quite a few other professions are standing on the edge of extinction, and they do not know it...

Sent from a telephone box using key-tapping skills.

You mean like tobacco, booze and strippers...?

**superjackal** · 26th March 2013, 11:39

Originally Posted by awa355

If you look at many trades, they have changed so much within the last 30 years, mostly in the materials they use and the techniques to work with those materials. Plumbing, building electrics.

Had an interesting chat with an electrician friend recently. He was scratching his head at the plumbing trade and said, generally, with electrics, it hasn't changed a lot in 50 years and you can still buy interchangeable parts. Plumbing on the other hand seems to re-invent itself every other year.