Automotive Paint and Body Technician courses provide students with hands-on training and experience to work as an Automotive Body Technician and Automotive Refinish Preparation Technician, two fields that are in constant demand. Automotive Paint and Body Technician courses focus on developing the skills required to ensure successful entry into an automotive paint and body profession.
The auto industry remains one of the largest in North America, despite the restructuring that has garnered so much attention. There continues to be massive competition, significant advances in technology, including many “green initiatives,” and continued demand to repair and service the nearly 500 million cars already on the road.
Automotive Body and Paint Technician courses will often cover the following topics:
- Introduction to the Automotive Industry and safety in the workshop
- automotive detailing
- Auto Refinish Prep Tools and Shop Procedures
- Materials
- Surface Preparation
- Repair of small teeth
- Priming
- Repair of plastic parts
- Masking procedures
- Introduction to refinish procedures
- tools and equipment
- welding technology
- sheet metal repair
- Vehicle construction technology
- plastic repair technology
The pay structure for a Body & Refinish Prep Technician leaves plenty of room for earnings growth. On average, collision repair technicians earn between $40,000 and $56,000 per year. Pursuing a career in auto body repair painting means you can pursue entry-level positions with a long list of potential employers, including:
- new car dealers
- Retail Collision Repair Facilities
- Custom Specialty Stores
- Heavy Truck Repair Facilities
- Becoming an Entrepreneur and Owning Your Own Body Shop
Positions for graduates of auto body repair painting courses include:
- automotive detailer
- Finish Preparation Technician Apprentice
- Motor Vehicle Body Repairer Apprentice
- Automotive welder/metal fabricator
- Plastic Repair Technician
- dental doctor
- aftermarket installer
- Automotive Refinish Technician
- Automotive painter
- And more
Typical tasks for auto body repair or refinish preparation technicians include:
- Remove wax, grease and dust from the vehicle
- Roughen vehicle panels and sand surfaces by hand or with pneumatic sanders
- Minor damage repair
- Restoration of anticorrosion treatments and preparation of substrates
- Mixing and application of the undercoat product ensuring chemical compatibility, adhesion and durability
- Application of anticorrosive compounds
- Prepare the vehicle for painting; masking and priming
- Apply primer to repair areas.
- paint interior parts
- Sand the vehicle several times during the painting process.
- Possible collision or restoration work, or they can design and create custom paint jobs.
- Set up the booth to dry the paint.
- Remove the masking papers and touch up the paint.
- Remove parts, damaged fenders, doors, panels and grills.
- Vehicle structure repair.
- Remove teeth, buckles and other defects.
- Repair and replace doors, front body, and lower body components.
- And more