Bodywork / Paintwork / Accident Repairs
From touch-ups and buffing, small local repairs, scuffs and scratches, minor dents to larger repairs requiring panel replacement, fully re-painting and blending.
Using quality consumables and well-proven paint materials, including products from Tetrosyl, U-POL, 3M, Mipa, Standox and DuPont.
Where possible, vehicles can be repaired using any combination of brand new dealer supplied parts, 2nd-hand items, or new non-genuine parts including bumpers, panels, lights, mouldings and other fittings.
Many non-genuine replacement parts are quality Thatcham approved items and represent substantial cost savings when compared to the main dealer price for the equivalent item.
Repairing vehicles in this way can be very cost effective and can save an otherwise good vehicle from becoming a 'write-off'.
I often find private motorists would rather avoid making an insurance claim considering the hassle of paying the insurance excess, loss of no-claims bonus, and increased renewal premium, and would rather arrange their own repairs - particularly in the case of a high insurance excess.
Back to the topBodykit Fitting
Spoiler and bodykit fitting/painting and other specialist modifications such as vented bonnets, 'light brows', flush tailgates/de-locking, custom bumpers and mesh fitting can be carried out.
Both fibreglass and ABS plastic bodykits can be fitted in several ways, including brackets, screwing, riveting and bonding using high-strength adhesive sealants.
Custom wheel arches and sill extensions can be blended into the existing bodywork to create a flowing seamless appearance - as on the Punto pictured to the right.
It is not recommended that bumpers are blended into the adjacent bodywork due to the stress cracking that can occur along seams after a minor impact, shock, or vibration. Even a minor car park nudge or clipping a high curb can result in long cracks between the bumper and wing seam when the impact is transferred into the filled joints.
The majority of aftermarket bodykits are fibreglass mouldings which are considerably cheaper than ABS plastic items but it should be noted that these fibreglass parts often need considerable additional preparation to rectify moulding faults, ripples, pin-holes and stress cracking to bring them up to an acceptable standard for priming and painting. ABS plastic bodykits and spoilers tend to be of higher quality, are less prone to cracking, have a smooth appearance and are easier to fit and paint. Bodykits manufactured by Rieger and Irmscher are normally good examples of quality plastic mouldings.
Back to the topGRP / Fibreglass Repair:
Laminate repairs from minor stress cracking to splits and torn areas.
Following an impact, fibreglass may take anything from a couple of days to a week or two to release all the impact stresses and for the full extent of the cracking to appear. Fibreglass repairs will often require access to the reverse side of the damaged area to allow the best possible repair, and usually require extended timescales compared to metal bodied vehicles to allow the through-cure and proper settling of the laminate prior to final shaping and paintwork.
In addition to GRP repair, recent fibreglass projects include a specially developed TVR Chimaera hardtop as an additional extra to the standard factory folding soft-top version. The hardtop is used in conjunction with the Chimaera’s existing centre roof panel and is designed to be in-keeping with the cars standard appearance and contours as well as fitting in the boot alongside the removable targa panel when not in use. The hardtop can either be painted to match the vehicle paintwork, or trimmed in canvas to match the original roof panel. It can be supplied with the thermoformed rear screen pre-fitted and all its separate sections pre-bonded together ready for minor adjustments and trimming where needed to suit the individual vehicle. All other fittings, quick release catches and sealing rubbers supplied.
Motorcycle Paintwork:
Due to the many different types of motorcycle colours and the individual nature of each bike, my usual procedure for carrying out motorcycle paintwork is for the customer to obtain the required basecoat colour/s from a dedicated motorcycle paint specialist - I can supply contact details for my recommended supplier. This avoids any confusion and guesswork surrounding colour codes and paint formulas that may only be available through a limited number of automotive paint brands, if at all.
As well as allowing the bike owner to get the paint at cost price, the time savings allow me to concentrate on the necessary repair work.
The basecoat colours are supplied pre-thinned and ready for use.
Any left over paint goes back in the bottle and is returned to the customer after repairs have been completed - very handy for any future paintwork or touch-ups and avoids any colour matching or tinting issues at a later date by being from the same batch that was used during the initial repair.
All the other required consumables such as adhesion promoter, plastic fillers, primers, final lacquer, etc can be supplied from my own stock.
During the initial estimating stage I can advise on the required quantities of basecoat colours to order and prevent any excessive amounts of paint being purchased and remaining unused.
Back to the topAirbrush Artwork
Custom paintwork, airbrushing and artwork can also be arranged through Grant Hood with any initial repair work, plastic welding and panel preparation carried out on-site in Halifax, before being handed over to Grant for the artwork process and then returned for final lacquering and buffing.
Damaged Repairables / Restoration Projects Wanted:
Please get in touch if you have any of the following for sale – Accident damaged cars, category C/D insurance salvage, unfinished projects, classic restorations etc.