Automotive Body Mechanic Career Details
Automotive body repairers use special equipment to restore damaged body sections and metal frames. These workers clamp or chain frames and sections to alignment machines that use hydraulic pressure to align damaged components. "Unibody" vehicles - designs built without frames - must be restored to precise factory specifications for the vehicle to operate correctly.
Body repairers remove badly damaged sections of body panels with a pneumatic metal-cutting gun or by other means, and weld in replacement sections. Less serious dents are pulled out with a hydraulic jack, hand prying bar or are knocked out with hand tools or pneumatic hammers. Small dents and creases are smoothed out by using a hammer and anvil. Repairers also remove very small pits and dimples with pick hammers and punches in a process called metal finishing.
These workers also repair or replace the plastic body parts that are increasingly used on new model vehicles. Among their duties are the removal of damaged panels and the identification of the family and properties of the plastic used on the vehicle. With most kinds of plastic, repairers can apply heat from a hot-air welding gun, or by immersion in hot water and press the softened panel back into shape by hand. They also replace plastic parts that are badly damaged or very difficult to repair.
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