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Bradan is proud to announce we have been sponsored for BMW collision repair training. This will give us direct access to BMW's collision repair training centers and programs. Our frame jig bench, measuring system, welders and paint are already OEM approved by BMW. BMW is a brand we have always been enthusiasts and long term customers of, making it a natural choice for us in addition to a few other OEM programs we will announce when finalized. This means accident damaged BMWs will be brought back to pre accident condition using strictly OEM parts and procedures that directly comply and follow BMW's engineer's strict standards. You have a choice to which collision repair facility you allow to fix your vehicle; don’t let insurance companies steer you to one of their direct repair shops, or tell you how it should be fixed. The adjuster's job is to minimize the claim payout, which often means pushing to use recycled or aftermarket parts. This leaves your car worse off then it was originally and possibly a diminished value claim. We guarentee our repairs as long as you own or lease your vehicle and will even cover your rental car if it exceeds your policy limit.
Our first day of training was held at BMW of North Americas Woodcliff Lake, NJ which is home of not only their headquarters; but also their repair and collision center. The building is divided into smaller workshops that teach everything from the BMW step apprentice program, motorcycle repair, Rolls Royce, paint, and structural repairs. BMW uses their own brand of paint manufactured by Axalta in water based form. Notice the additional fans for air movement in the corners of their Global spray booths. Their mixing room is similar to ours in that it's directly linked to the side of the spray booth; allowing paint to be mixed and then move into the spray booth without passing through the workshop (avoiding contamination). For structural repairs they use a combination of Cellete, Car-o-liner, and Carbench which is the same frame jig bench we use.
The first training class I attended and was certified in is “High Voltage Vehicle Body Repair." This applies to their hybrid vehicles that show how to correctly disarm the electrical system. This avoids a possible fatal shock in an accident, or damaging the vehicle's electronic systems during repair. We look forward to continuing our education and training. If you have any specific questions please don’t hesitate to email us at Bradangroup@gmail.com or call 631 585 8600.
We upgraded to a Featherlite aluminum enclosed trailer. We had to cut the wheel tubes to clear wider cars. The trailer will get wrapped once we slow down a bit.
Bradan is proud to announce we have invested in the best tire equipment on the market made by Hunter engineering. Our Hunter Road force balancer is unique to the market and considering a Diagnostic wheel balancer. The diagnostic roller solves vibration problems, identifies vehicle pulls and provides that “new car ride” If your tire is defective, rim is bent, or even just have the tire incorrectly install the computer will identify the fault. This really helps for guys that race there cars on the track to help solve high speed vibrations that go un noticed on public roads. Our Hunter tire machine features polymer mount head that resist marring your rims. Together we feel Hunter engineering makes the best combinations of tire mount and balancers on the market.
We're often asked what paint guns we use to achieve our concours winning paint jobs. We use Sanitaria ("Sata") spray guns which are manufactured in Germany for all sprayable finishes. Originally, it came from the recommendation of our paint supplier Glasurit; since most of their finishes are designed to be sprayed with specific Sata guns. After trying out a few different brands the difference was tremendous. In today's modern body shop we must always work to a level of perfection while being mindful of our environmental impact. HLVP paint guns and RP are the only legal paint guns to use in a body shop. HVLP stands for High-Volume/Low-Pressure, and spray guns with this type of material transfer give you better, more consistent coverage than conventional spray guns, with minimal overspray. Rp is a Sata specific acronym for “Reduced Pressure” which is rated at a minimum of 65% transfer efficiency. The origins of Sanitaria go back to the firm Gretsch & Cie. GmbH in Stuttgart-Feuerbach, which was established in 1863 by Friedrich Carl Bauer and now operates in Kitzingen, under the name of Gretsch-Unitas. In 1914 “Sata” was registered as a trademark. In 2007 Sata celebrated a century in business. We're proud to use their spray guns in our paint department and will continue to work with them with advanced materials in years to come.
For base coat finishes we use the Sata Jet 5000 HVLP Digital. This was designed by Porsche Design Studio in collaboration with Sata to produce a gun thats functional, aesthetically pleasing and comfortable for the operator to use. Painters are able to fine tune the spray fan control, material flow control, as well as the air micrometer. When spraying clear coat we switch to a Satajet 5000 RP which is similar but sprays slower using lower air consumption which is better for us when spraying clear coat.
When spraying primer we use a Satajet 100 B F HVLP gun. Most body shops use cheap guns and don't really care about the primer stages, but the paint jobs base is really what determines the longevity and quality of the overall paint job. When spraying with a HVLP primer gun it's not only environmentally friendly, but also saves a lot of material which reduces required sanding effort. The air micrometer with graduations allow us to adjust the air atomisation. For polyester coatings normally sprayed over Fiberglass to do Gel coat repairs we us the Satajet 100 BF P polyester gun. To truly get a perfect finish, each stage from bare metal - to a finished surface must be fine tuned and analyzed for perfection. Otherwise, it will tumble from one weak link in the chain.
02-27-2018, 12:25 PM
