susan_ward•2d agoProlific Poster

Lost a whole door skin because I got in a hurry

Back in 2019 I was working on a '97 Civic down in the old shop off Elm Street. Customer wanted a quick repair on the driver door, small dent nothing major. I figured I'd save time, skip the heat check on the adhesive. Big mistake. Got the stud welder going, slapped the slide hammer on, pulled too hard. The whole skin rippled and tore right at the body line. Had to order a new door shell, cost the shop $280 and I ate a day of labor. My lead guy just looked at me and said "told you to slow down." Now I always test pull with low heat first, even if the job seems simple. You guys ever ruin a panel rushing?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_richard2d ago

That rush mindset creeps into so many things, not just bodywork. You skip the small step, think you're saving time, and end up paying for it twice as much later. It's the same reason people throw out their backs rushing to grab something instead of taking two seconds to bend their knees.

patel.daniel2d ago

Oh boy, does that ever remind me of something. I used to work in an old machine shop back in the 80s, and we had this one guy who was always in a hurry. He would skip cleaning the grinder wheel before switching metals, thought he was saving ten minutes. Well, one day he loaded up some aluminum and the old grit from the steel got embedded in the part. Ruined a whole batch of custom brackets for a client. Boss had to stay late and redo everything, and that guy never saved a second after that. Its funny how the bodywork analogy fits right in there too, the same impatience shows up in the most unexpected places.