Beginner auto repair

Safety Rules & Introduction to Tools

Automobiles are big and heavy with lots of mechanical moving parts. In the right
environment a vehicle can be maintained and repaired safely and effectively. However,
in the wrong environment repairing a vehicle can be dangerous. Follow the tips :-

Basic Shop Rules:
 Never work alone
 Wear eye protection
 Avoid loose clothing or hair
 Stay clear of moving parts of a running vehicle
 Be aware of hazardous chemicals and keep a flushing station nearby for eyes
and skin (at home this could be a bathroom sink or shower).
 Keep proper clean up materials in case of an accidental spill (see below)
 Dont mix your work space with other cluttering materials such as home storage,
garden tools and other items.
 Never go under a vehicle that is elevated improperly (the jack to change the tire
is NOT sufficient, see more details below)
 Know where the fire extinguisher is and have a planned exit route. The fire
extinguisher should be kept in working order and in a place with easy access.
 Keep an emergency response number handy and posted clearly where others
can see it.
 Keep an emergency kit in your vehicle for roadside emergencies or repairs.
 Consult your vehicle owners manual for specific safety rules regarding your
vehicle

Proper Clothing and Hair:
Always wear safety goggles for eye protection. Vehicle repair involves the use of many
types of fluids which can splatter and eye contact should be avoided.

Do not wear ties or any loose, hanging clothing. Do not let pony tails down or leave any
loose strands of hair. Bundle your hair up if its long. Do not wear necklaces, rings or
other jewelry.
Ideally the best clothing for performing automotive maintenance and repairs is a
mechanics jumpsuit. Its durable, comfortable, there are pockets for tools, and there is
nothing loose that can get caught and pulled into moving parts.

Avoid slips, falls and hazardous chemicals:
Hazardous chemicals can include gasoline, oil, coolant, and other vehicle fluids. Avoid
contact with eyes and mouth. If you ever have contact with eyes then flush with cool
water for several minutes. Some car fluids can be acidic, such as battery fluid. If you
ever start to feel burning, then flush with cool water for several minutes. If burning
continues then seek medical attention.
Proper clean up materials include shop rags and oil dri, which is simply kitty litter
without the fragrance. When a spill occurs you should spread enough oil dri over the
spill to absorb the entire spill. Then sweep it up with a broom and dustpan and throw it
away.

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General Maintenance

Vehicle Owner’s Manual
All vehicles are different and the owner’s manual for each make and model is the most
useful reference for maintenance and repair of that specific vehicle.

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Dashboard Indicator Lights

The instrument panel on your dashboard has multiple gauges and indicators. These
may include the fuel gauge, speedometer, tachometer, oil pressure, and engine
temperature. Most are self-explanatory– the

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DRIVER GUIDE to avoid accidents

Rules of the road

Driving properly and sensibly is your top responsibility as a driver. You must maintain a safe speed and driving style for both you and other road users, such as cyclists, pedestrians, and other drivers.

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Sharing the road

Road Sharing With Motorcycles

Observe the following when driving beside motorcycles:

• Drivers frequently pass over motorcycles.

• Measuring a motorcycle's speed or distance is not always simple.

• Depending on sight distance, drive at or below the posted speed limit on residential streets, particularly those with parked cars.

• When confronted with hazardous road conditions, such as manhole covers, railroad tracks running diagonally, road debris, or strong winds, motorcycle riders adjust their speed and lane position.

Get ready to respond.

• A motorcycle and you shouldn't share a lane.

In order to be safe, the motorcycle rider requires the complete lane.

Advice for Motorcyclists on Safety

• You must use a helmet according the legislation.

Using a safety-certified helmet can help you avoid dying or suffering serious head injuries.

• Ensure that your motorcycle complies with all legal requirements for safety and equipment.

• Ensure that drivers can see you.

Keep clear of a vehicle's blind zones and wear brightly colored clothing. When biking after dark, use appropriate lighting and reflectors.

• Before you slam on the brakes, switch lanes, or make a turn, signal.

Check behind and in front of you before merging, changing lanes, or making a turn to make sure the move is safe.

In conjunction with other drivers who will be impacted by your action, do so in plenty of time. If it's not safe, keep going straight while doing frequent scans.

Once it is safe, only move.

• When moving to the left of a parked or moving vehicle, take care.

To avoid unexpectedly opening car doors or to allow for a vehicle to veer, you should offer three to four feet of clearance.

• Pay close attention at intersections.

Never assume you have the right of way when a car is coming.

Be mindful that drivers of motor vehicles could not spot you approaching the intersection or might assume that you are travelling more slowly than you actually are.

• In order to show politeness to other drivers and to increase your personal safety, maintain a steady line and be predictable.

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Highway driving

You must be vigilant and conscious of your surroundings to drive safely.

You need to scan the area behind your car, to the sides, and down the road.

Keep an eye out for unforeseen developments.

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What should you do if you're in a car accident?

What should a driver do initially if they are involved in a collision?

Here’s how to be more ready for an unanticipated auto collision. Although it’s always advisable to drive defensively, there are some strategies to increase your chances of surviving a collision.

First and foremost, arriving at a traffic collision quickly can be made possible by having a first aid kit, fire extinguisher, and safety triangle in your car’s boot. These small particulars enable you to safely secure a situation and give emergency aid to anyone who may be hurt.

Firstly, travelling with a first aid kit, fire extinguisher, and a safety triangle kept in the boot of your vehicle can go a long way towards helping when you’re first on the scene to a traffic accident. Small details like these allow you to safely secure a scene and provide immediate aid to those who may be injured. Making sure you have insurance is a crucial step to take before you even get behind the wheel of an automobile. If you get into a car accident and are judged to be at fault for the damages, you may have to pay a lot of money. Continue reading to learn more advice you may use when dealing with a crashed car.

Park your Car

Always safely stop your car after a collision, and then strive to maintain your composure.

Before you carefully exit your car, turn on your warning lights to alert other motorists and, if it’s safe to do so, park away from the flow of traffic.

If there are any further accident victims, make sure to check on them and start providing first aid if you are comfortable doing so.

Watch out for any nearby fire, smoke, glass fragments, and debris.

Attempt to alert oncoming traffic and get in touch with anyone who may have witnessed the collision to serve as a witness.

Report the accident

Once you’ve made sure that everyone involved is well and that the situation is secure until aid arrives, it’s crucial to document the specifics of your vehicle accident. Note the make, model, and license plate number of any more vehicles involved in the collision.

To stay in touch, people will trade personal details; names, addresses, and phone numbers are all helpful to have.

Knowing specifics about their insurance provider and policy number, if available, would be much better.

If you are still reeling from the shock of the accident, it could be challenging to concentrate on gathering this information, but it will be very helpful when filing an insurance claim.

Record any details you can about the car and report your traffic accident to the authorities if any of the drivers involved are unwilling to comply.

Present a Claim for Insurance

Provide them to the authorities to help them identify who was at responsibility after you’ve made notes and photos of the accident to help you remember any crucial details that may have contributed to your accident in the future.

Regardless of whether it would be more affordable for you to handle small repairs yourself, report any damage to your car to your insurance carrier.

Maintaining awareness

Maintaining awareness of the situation is crucial whether you are in an accident or your car gets body damage. Always ask inquiries if you have any concerns.

You probably have some specific queries when you visit a panel beater repair company and are looking for solutions to those questions.

Although there is never a lack of inquiries that need to be addressed, these are the most typical inquiries about panel beater smash repairs that we regularly get.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you match the paint colour?

Most factory finishes now utilise multiple coats of specialised paints. However, with the appropriate information from the car factory and a computerised paint mixing system, it is possible to ensure every replacement panel installed by a panel beater is capable of matching the previous paint job perfectly.

If the car structure is damaged, is the car going to be a write off?

The car is not a write off if the repairs exceeds the value of the vehicle. You might need to check with your insurance company; depending on the cost of the repairs, but more than likely, general frame damage is not going to mean your car is totaled. It is also possible with today’s modern vehicles, to return the car back to its pre-accident condition. Even if the frame section is bent seemingly beyond repair, it is possible to just replace it without the car being a complete write off

How long will the repairs take?

The repair time does vary, depending on the panel beater and the amount of damage sustained to your car. You are going to receive an estimate before dropping off the car, so you know how much time to expect it to be in the shop. Of course, it is necessary to remember this is only an estimate. It is possible for the repair to take longer, should additional damage be detected. You should always be notified of any additional issues located on the vehicle, so you can plan accordingly. After all, you need to know when to return a rental car and for how long to keep a replacement vehicle, should you have one.

Where can you find excellent panel beating services?

At Supreme tech panel beater. You can also find us on social media , Facebook and twitter. for more easy access to our contacts click on the link https://panelbeatersdirectory.co.za/listing.php?listings_id=2075

012 753 9113 | 85 Rose-Etta Street, Pretoria West, Pretoria, Gauteng, 0183

Is there a warranty on the repair work?

There should always be a warranty on the parts used and the work performed. Sometimes, you just don’t know if the work is done correctly until after you start driving it. This is especially the case if you sustained frame damage and the body repair shop had to work on the frame. Should the repairs fail to correct your damaged vehicle, everything should have a warranty on it.

How do I know my car is finished?

You will be notified by the panel beater when your vehicle is done and ready to be picked up. You are free to call the panel repair shop for updates on what is going on and for any questions or concerns you might have. If you are unable to pick up the vehicle when it is finished, you are more than welcome to stop by the following day. This way, you can inspect the vehicle in the sunlight and make sure the panel installation is performed correctly and everything is back to pre-accident condition.

Contact us

When you bring your damaged car to a panel beater, you could have a lot of various queries or worries.

It is crucial to constantly ask any and all questions you may have since it is preferable to be educated than to make uninformed assumptions or be left in the dark.

Feel free to ask the garage any queries you may have, even after you’ve dropped the car off.

You have every right to know what is happening and to have your queries answered because it is your car and your money.

Never be afraid to ask your panel beater these questions since even though these are the most typical inquiries, you might have others as well.

Supreme Tech Panel Beaters is very experienced in answering and dealing with all questions that come our way. Don’t hesitate to give us a call on 012 753 9113 to discuss how we can help you.

What Goes Into Panel Beating of the car?

Taking Off the Underbody Coatings

Different coatings protect the various components of your vehicle. To meet the localized conditions surrounding the car’s parts, these coatings frequently vary in thickness, texture, and type. For example, a paint coating beneath the bonnet must be designed to withstand high engine temperatures. It will not have the same properties as the interior protective coatings. In either case, preparing for a panel beating procedure begins with removing existing coatings to make way for the subsequent work. Seals, deadeners, and other protective elements that prevent the damaged panels from receiving full corrective forces will also be removed by the smash repair experts.

Damage Rough-out

The following step is to rough out the damage. The smash repair specialists use hand-held tools to reshape the smashed area back to its original form and contour. Car manufacturers detail the body panels to give the buyer the desired visual appeal. These panels are meticulously crafted, and the repair must ensure that the roughing out process is flawless.
The goal here is to find the lowest point of damage based on how much the damaged area carved in. The repair technicians use nearly the same force that caused the area to curve out of shape.

Planishing

Planishing is the final step in the panel beating repair preparation stage. Planishing is the process of restoring a damaged area to its original plane. It smoothes the bumps and hollows on the damaged area to an even plane that feels smooth to the touch. To correct the imperfections from the previous stage, the repair experts frequently use a steel stake and a special planishing hammer. They do this while monitoring the surface with planning devices to ensure that it is as even as possible.

Answers to Frequently Asked Paintless Dent Repair Questions

Paintless dent repair is a technique used by body shop professionals or panel beaters to ensure that the paint of a vehicle is not damaged when a dent is repaired. This can be a good option for many car owners because it has some advantages over traditional panel beating or body work. Make a list of any questions you have about paintless dent repair and then discuss them with your repairperson if you still need more information.

1. What are the benefits of paintless dent repair?

If you had a custom paint job done on your vehicle, you may have difficulty finding that same paint to touch up your car after it has been repaired with drilling or sanding. Furthermore, paintless dent repair involves massaging the skin or body of the car beneath the surface to remove the dent, so no fillers, bonding agents, or the like are used. This can result in a stronger overall body and frame of the car, as well as a repair job that may last longer because you won't have to worry about fillers losing adhesion over time.

2. Is paintless dent repair harmful to the paint?

It's worth noting that most paints used on today's cars are designed to be very flexible, allowing them to be bumped and massaged without showing any signs of damage. Paintless dent repair can often make your car's paint job look like there was never any damage in the first place because they are less likely to chip and fleck away than paints used many years ago.

3. Can paintless dent repair be used to repair all dents?

Only a panel beater or body shop repairperson can tell you if a certain dent can be fixed with paintless dent repair, but note that some very deep dents and dings may be too big to fix with this method.

If the paint has been scraped away in a collision, it will need to be touched up regardless of the type of repair; however, most minor dents and scratches on a car's body can be quickly and easily repaired with paintless dent repair.

4. Do the dents reappear?

Paintless dent repair should last as long as other types of dent repair because the dents don't simply fold back on themselves after a while, even though they aren't usually beaten out or punched out as forcefully as other types of dents.