bpham

Oh wait forever... haven't seen her in 2 weeks. Going through withdrawal of not having a car lol. The place i'm getting it fixed at deals with hondas, and they take pictures everyday. I don't even know when im going to get it back. Seriously never missed driving 6 speed in soooo long. So anyways, heres the progress on it. It hurts me to see my car like this

01tl4tl

An inside the body shop viewpoint

First they have to dismantle and verify they did find all the damage- sometimes things are hidden and then the insurance has to be involved again to approve- sometimes that can take days. Then the parts are sometimes not in stock at the local dealer so a fender has to come from bottswania by outrigger paddle canoe- and they are on strike!!
After that, they test fit the panels to the car- bolt everything up- just like you see on the bike building shows- ~the mock up~-to be sure it all fits right, then take them all back off the car. Making adjustments after its painted is bad news- fresh paint is easily damaged.
THEN they prep the parts for initial painting of the edges first- thats called Jamming-and is also used to mix and check the paint color match to the rest of the car.
Then the parts get installed on the car and the entire panel(s) gets prepped for paint (may have been primered in jam session already)- then back in line for the paint booth for primer-drying-sanding of primer- reprep for final paint, then spray the final paint color- bake dry- prep for clear coat- spray- bake in giant oven built into the paint booth for several hours- usually overnight so the booth is open for painting during the day.
then fix any paint flaws and install the final little parts- recheck everthing and call customer!!!
All in all- 4 to 6 weeks is not unusual on a small to mid size crash- more if frame damage!!
Each step/time it needs paint- it has to wait in line for the booth and the painter to be available. Then the guy working on it overall is also working on 5 to 10 other cars at the same time- bouncing from one to the next as the parts or paint arrives.
Sometimes you may be next- sometimes the job in progress takes priority

In the office is a large wall board with all the jobs, with expected dates for each step- and they schedule things based on that and update it every day. Things change everyday!

Its not often you find a place with more than 1 good painter and 1 booth- some may have a seperate area for small jobs like jamming- but the big booth is for the real painting- often equpped with downdraft- suction air to the floor and filters- you go thru a double door- airlock type entry- EPA regulated type of stuff with workers in sealed suits and breathers systems or filters
These modern paints are super toxxxic- not like the good ol days of spraying in the back yard! Wasnt it fun to assist in depleting the ozone!!

01tl4tl

you need to let them know about the intake resonator delete- or they will find one and install it!!!

bpham

Intake resonator delete? That part wasn't listed on the invoice I received from my insurance company. They did say the hidden damage was in the core support, and they also "said" that they ordered the parts before I delivered my car on the 5th.

01tl4tl

your sig says res delete and I assumed it was the intake res- a popular no cost mod to increase airflow to the air filter box--you must have meant on the exhaust- sorry

They well may have ORDERED parts for you before the drop off date- I was guessing you dropped the car and grabbed a loaner.
Ordered and Arrived are 2 very different things as noted in my post- section on delievry by outrigger canoe- (think- slow boat from china)

Core support was probably the radiator support cross member- not unusual to get damaged on a hit

bpham

Yeah it was on the exhaust. Kinda sounds like a mustang haha. But I don't have rental on my insurance so I don't have a loaner. Sucks bumming rides to work.