Body Shops Without Baking Booths

III · 02-08-07, 01:09

I've been looking for another body shop in my area the last couple of weeks. I just haven't been satisfied with the ones I've been to over the years. No surprize hey? I found one place that I like, but they don't have a baking booth. The guy said it just takes longer for the paint to dry, and that he uses something special in the clear coat or paint to help the process.

My question is this: Should baking booths be a factor in looking for a good quality shop? I guess I'm drawn to this place because it's a small operation. It's not like the dealers, or other shops where they want to repair as many vehicles as they can, and send you on your way.

Wetwerks · 02-08-07, 01:15

Depends on where the vehicle is left to dry. If it is shot in a booth and left in there, I really don't see an issue. I've been to body shops where they shoot the car then pull it right outside.....you want to talk about clear coat contamination! The bake booth assists in lowering dry/cure time. My best advice would be to watch them shoot a car and see what happens after that. Also check some of the vehicles that they have done. I'm sure there are a few that are near complete still around the shop.

Walter
Co-owner

BlueZero · 02-08-07, 01:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wetwerks

Depends on where the vehicle is left to dry. If it is shot in a booth and left in there, I really don't see an issue. I've been to body shops where they shoot the car then pull it right outside.....you want to talk about clear coat contamination! The bake booth assists in lowering dry/cure time. My best advice would be to watch them shoot a car and see what happens after that. Also check some of the vehicles that they have done. I'm sure there are a few that are near complete still around the shop.

Walter
Co-owner

Some good advice. It seems most places don't use a baking booth.

Hey, where about in WI do you live. I know of two good places in Green Bay. I've never had any work done but I hear good things. My friend had their Escalade done at one and it looked great.

Danase · 02-08-07, 01:45

Not all places use a bake booth. The car will be painted, left to dry for a day and then wetsanded and rubbed out. You will be fine. Just let the paint cure for a few months and don't listen to the painter if he tells you to wax it in a week.

BlueZero · 02-08-07, 01:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danase

Just let the paint cure for a few months and don't listen to the painter if he tells you to wax it in a week.

Wish I would have known that about a year ago. Got my tailgated repainted and waxed it about an hour after I got home. Didn't seem to do any harm. Oh well, live and learn.

III · 02-08-07, 02:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danase

Not all places use a bake booth. The car will be painted, left to dry for a day and then wetsanded and rubbed out.

Interesting point Bob. I just assumed that all shops have baking booths, and going to a shop with a baking booth would be better.

BlueZero, I live in Racine. Just south of Milwaukee.

velobard · 02-08-07, 02:52

The shop I picked to work on my car this time does not have a heat booth. It's a low-volume shop that mostly does custom work, very little in the way of insurance work. I respect the talent of the guy enough that I'm glad to have him work on my car even if he can't justify the cost of a heat booth. Sure, it "kick-starts" the curing process, but it still takes months for the car to finish curing anyway.

Does anyone have a clue how much of a head start a heat booth actually gives for curing?

Accumulator · 02-08-07, 03:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by velobard

The shop I picked to work on my car this time does not have a heat booth. It's a low-volume shop that mostly does custom work, very little in the way of insurance work. I respect the talent of the guy enough that I'm glad to have him work on my car even if he can't justify the cost of a heat booth...

Same here.

IIRC when MirrorFinishMan queried the paint makers about cure times, none of them mentioned baking factoring in.

velobard · 02-08-07, 04:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Accumulator

Same here.

IIRC when MirrorFinishMan queried the paint makers about cure times, none of them mentioned baking factoring in.

I recently PM'd MFM with a question about that. He said heat booths were a variable that wasn't brought up in his dialog with the paint companies.

jsatek · 02-08-07, 04:25

I owned 2 downdraft booths in my shop that also baked finishes. I couldn't imagine painting a car without baking them. The risk is just not worth it.

Those accelerator additives that make the clear cure faster are not anything that I would have used in my shop. I had two paint systems, Sikkens and Glasurit and baked everything except when we edged a fender or the underside of a hood or trunk.

the other pc · 02-08-07, 04:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by velobard

... Sure, it "kick-starts" the curing process, but it still takes months for the car to finish curing anyway.

Does anyone have a clue how much of a head start a heat booth actually gives for curing?

It varies from paint system to paint system but it’s typically in minutes or hours per coat and maybe a half day or one day for a whole paint job. (It seems most people, many painters included, somehow believe it speeds things up by weeks or months. It doesn't.)

The point of re-spray baking is to get it out the door faster, increasing throughput and profits.

Quality comes from the painter’s skill and attention to detail, whether baked or air dried.

PC.

III · 02-08-07, 05:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by the other pc

The point of re-spray baking is to get it out the door faster, increasing throughput and profits.

Bingo. That is exactly what this guy told me about him not having a baking system.