New job. Wish me luck.
Well that's all good, But but do they teach you any metal fab ? English wheel, bead roller,
chop roofs? Ole school real body work! I've been doing this since 79 and all the NEW collage tec's are only panel changers, We have been through more then i can count in the past year and there's no skill left in the trade any more! It's sad to say but i guess we are a dieing breed.
We just had Ron Covell at the school last week. We have a strict focus on metal finishing.
But as you know, if you have been in the business for over 30 years, panels are replaced for a reason.
You can't put 3-5 hours into a fender that costs $140 from the dealer.
Dammaged crush zones or areas of high/super high strength steel can not be repaired.
Aluminium has limited repairability.
I am currently working on a 74 Lincoln Mark IV (Custom car owned by the department head). This is all, pick, file, hammer and dolly work. The right fender took a hit (15 hours of metal finishing before I even thought about touching it with the thinest skim coat of filler) ..... The fenders on one of these is 7' long. I am also doing several other small repairs along with a few small blends to correct the finish. To be honest, it is stressing me the hell out. This thing is arrow straight, the paint is perfectly flat and it needs to be ready for a show next weekend.
Paint still needs to be done, panel alignment corrections need to be made, the car needs to have the trim re-assembled and the hand pin striping needs to be redone in the repair areas.
But your question is really unrealistic. Modern collision repair is not the same as custom or restoration work.
To answer your question directly, those that are willing to learn leave school with a well rounded education including basic metal forming.
It was hard for me to reply to this because I know exactly what you are talking about. I see the same thing every day. You have those that take learning this seriously and those that are there just for grant money and don't really have any pride in what they do or how they do it.
Here are some of the other things going on in the shop (or things that have been recently completed). I need to link some of these, click on the header for pics.
1973 Javelin Project still being worked on.
[ame="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68diecast/6844533682/in/photostream/"]2012 Portland Roadster Show | Flickr - Photo Sharing![/ame]
1957 Corvette finished just before the show.
[ame="http://www.flickr.com/photos/68diecast/6990658077/in/photostream/"]2012 Portland Roadster Show | Flickr - Photo Sharing![/ame]
1968 "Jungle Jim" Nova body was restored at school just before I started.
[ame="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22304485@N04/4283443025/in/photostream/"]jungle jim funnycar 69 nova | Flickr - Photo Sharing![/ame]
[ame="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22304485@N04/4283443381/in/photostream/"]Jungle Jim 69 Nova Funnycar | Flickr - Photo Sharing![/ame]
Just last week we finished the new body for the Tiki Warrior (but I don't have a link to any new pics yet).
http://www.tikiwarrior.com/photos.html
