Autobody Collision Repair & Faux Finish Wood Grain
Mike Bauer owner of an autobody collision repair shop in Naples Fl.that specializes in autobody collision repair of domestic and foreign cars like Porsche, Ferrari, BMW, and Mercedes , called and asked if I could match a faux finished wood grain. I told him I have been known to get it right a time two and asked
“Why, what have you got?”,
As it turns out Mike Bauer owner of Pine Ridge Coachworks in Naples Fl. had a client who has a vehicle that she absolutely adores and needed to have some autobody work done that involved the fenders and doors. Of course I don’t know what all was involved with the repair work I was just there to see if I could help out with a problem.
Now Mike works on domestic and foreign cars and the quality of his collision repair shops speaks for itself and is very well known locally.
The problem at hand was not a large one, but still a problem all the same. You see the autobody repair took place right where the back edge of the front fenders meet the front edge of the doors on a Chrysler PT Cruiser. I am sure many of you are familiar with the make up of the PT Cruiser’s autobody that had came out with the faux finish wood grain panels that are replicated digitally on vinyl and then mounted on sides of the vehicles.
The problem came into play when the small area of vinyl at the fender that had to be replaced, and because of the brutality of the Southwest Fl. weather the faux finished wood grain panel had changed in color through the whole image. The factory tried by sending what they could and what the part number called for but what they sent was not matching. With that being said I found myself now taking part in the autobody collision repair business and faux finishing a wood graining on this PT Cruiser.
Now I have come across some very close matches to faux finishing repairs in my day before I was called in. In fact I have even seen some that I honestly thought I couldn’t do much better and some where even near perfect despite the circumstances involved, but when I saw what the factory had sent for the autobody collision repair I have to say that I was a bit humored ….no let’s say it like it is….
nice try fellas but
Do you think they’ll notice?
I mean you would really think the boys at the factory would at least open up a book and see if it was the same faux wood grain pattern. Who knows, maybe this is what it called for. At any rate Mike runs a pretty tight autobody shop and has a very busy schedule that he’s proud to stay on time with as part of his reliable service and it isn’t like you think that we all drive like a bunch of lunatics down here as to the reason why his autobody shop is so busy it’s just when he says he’s going to deliver on a particular date he delivers.
Most of his word of mouth business comes from the fact that he has both great service and high quality work.
He knew that if he had to keep going back to the factory that this could disrupt the schedule of his collision repair shop as a whole whether the reason was because of a faux finishing wood grain or not a schedule is a schedule.
That’s why I was called in. Mr Bauer knew of my ability to deliver and that the quality would be there as well.
Here’s what I came up with.
Bringing in a little closer shot will help the visual on this but as you can see with team work and the right professionals at hand things happen when there suppose to.
Just to show you that I don’t get lucky once in awhile with my faux woodgraining I thought I would show you the other side as well. I’m not sure if many of my artist friends are aware of this or not but I’ll let you in on a little tip!
Did you know that most vehicles and cabinet finishes of today are acrylics? The Europeans have developed some water borne systems and top coats that are compatible with most faux finishing water base systems you just have to have that right person behind that spray gun pulling that trigger.
With the close up of the other side it shows that with practice matching color is really what it’s all about and now the owner is wanting to regrain the lighter trim as well. After all the yers I have spent in the painting business I really never had time to get into the autobody collision repair business because of my dedication to the fine arts, decorative arts and faux finishing,
hmmmm maybe I should make more time for this.
Needless to say Mike had a very happy client
6 thoughts on “Autobody Collision Repair & Faux Finish Wood Grain”
I have a 1978 GMC Motorhome painted in custom faux wood. It has suffered some extensive weathering & I have a generator door that’s blank. I’m in California. What solution might exist? $$$$$ Shalom
Tim, I would check around your area and see if there could be a decorative artist that could match the existing graining. If you send me an email I may be able to put you in contact with a decorative artist that could help but a faded weathered would be a challenge. I live in Florida and at this time I have nothing scheduled in your area.
That is outstanding! That match is perfect. It never crossed my mind howt ti difficult it would be to match trim without an artist to duplicate it!
Thanks Chris, It is pretty cool of some of the calls I get. I dislike telling anyone that need help with a problem that it can’t be done when it comes to color. Apparently the client absolutely adored this car, which is really what encouraged me to take this little challenge on. Sometimes it isn’t about the money it’s the thought that I made both the owner of the body shop and the vehicle day a little brighter.
Great article. Thanks a lot. I especially liked it when you said most of his word of mouth business comes from the fact that he has both great service and high quality work. I could not agree more.
Thanks in this day and age its the most important part of staying in business for sure. Love your site BTW…