When it comes to repairing your automobile, there are some terms that you are going to run into, and it is helpful if you understand what they mean to the fixing of your vehicle. Benny’s Auto Body has put together a helpful glossary of terms to help you in your auto body repair adventure.
Abrasive: When the term abrasive is used the term refers to a coarse material such as sandpaper (either wet or dry) that is used to rub down a rough surface or to make a surface rough or to entirely remove surface material as the case may be and depending on what is needed at that particular point in time.
A/M: The letters A/M is an abbreviation that stands for “aftermarket parts.” This term indicates particular parts that have been made by a manufacturer that is not the original manufacturer of the vehicle. These parts that are labeled A/M are parts that are warranted by the manufacturer of the part or the parts distributor. There are two specific types of aftermarket parts. One type of aftermarket part is termed certified; the other is termed not certified.
Blend: The term “Blend” is a process that refers to gradually blending the paint of a panel next to the panel being replaced or repaired in order to provide an exact and indistinguishable match.
CAPA: The term CAPA is another abbreviation. This abbreviation stands for “Certified Automotive Parts Association.” CAPA parts are aftermarket parts that have been certified by a third party that is supposed to be unbiased and which is supposed to insure the quality of the parts. The overall result is that they are supposed to test out equal or greater than the original part produced or manufactured by the company.
Color Sand and Buff: Color Sand and Buff is a term used for the process of sanding a repainted surface by using a very fine sandpaper in order to smooth it out and remove any imperfections that may be detected. Once this process has been completed the paint finish is then glossed over. This last process is known as “Finessing.”
Competitive Parts: This is another term that refers to Aftermarket Parts.
Flex Additive/Materials: The term Flex Additive/Materials is a specific product that is used in pain in order to make the paint flexible. This flexible paint is used on a vehicle’s soft parts such as side moldings or other items.
LKQ: LKQ is another acronym that stands for Like, Kind and Quality. This term means used parts (such as those retrieved from a salvage vehicle). These parts can be retrieved from another vehicle of the same make or model than the one that is being fixed.
OEM: The term ‘OEM’ is another abbreviation. This one indicates that the parts being referred to were made by the original manufacturer or its licensed supplier. It indicates that the part is a genuine new part and is under warranty.
O/H – Overhaul: The term O/H (Overhaul) refers to the removal of an assembly and the disassembly, cleaning and visual inspection that is part of the process of making the vehicle work.
Overlap: The term “overlap’ refers to an automatic deduction. This automatic deduction is made by the estimating system only when two processes happen to be duplicated.
PDR – Paintless Dent Repair: This is another process that uses special tools in order to remove minor dents (usually rounded) that are caused by hail. This process does the needed repairs without damaging the paint.
Primary Color: The term primary color is just as you might remember it from school. Primary colors are red, yellow and blue. These three colors can be mixed together to create any other color that you can possibly imagine in order to match up the paint jobs.
Primer: Primer is a type of paint that has little or no color in and of itself. Instead, primer is used as a type of undercoat which helps with the bonding process of the metal and the coats of paint allowing the paint to adhere to the metal.
Primer/Sealer: The term primer/Sealer is used to refer to the type of undercoat (listed above) that helps to improve the ability of the color to adhere to the metal without chipping or flaking away.
Primer/Surfacer: A Primer/Surfacer is used to fill in marks made by sanding or small surface imperfections so that the top coat can then be filled in and matched accordingly.
Putty (Spot): Putty or spot is a type of material used to fill in imperfections in a substance and is composed usually of lacquer or polyester resin and is applied with a spreader before being sanded smooth.
Quarter Panel: A Quarter Panel is the metal panel which extends from the rear door and the rear of the car. In some cars these are referred to as quarter panels. This is a common section of the car that will need to be replaced in most types of accidents, especially those where the rear section of the car is involved.
QRP: QRP is another acronym which stands for Quality Replacement Part, another term for Aftermarket Parts.
Recycled: This term is another term for parts that have been salvaged from vehicles whose parts are comparable to the vehicle being repaired.
Remanufactured Part – Reman Part: Remanufactured parts are those parts that have been restructured or refurbished by the original manufacturer to manufacturer specifications. It usually comes with a limited warranty and is guaranteed to work for a certain length of time.
Rebuilt Part: A rebuilt part refers to a part that has been reconditioned or rebuilt. This can be an aftermarket part or one that is a rebuilt original company part but which has been restructured for resale and reuse.
R & I – Remove and Install: This term usually refers to parts being removed from a vehicle in order to enable repairs or access. When the part that needs replacing has been repaired, the same part is put back on in order to complete the vehicle.
R&R – Remove and Replace: The term R&R is an abbreviation which stands for a part being removed and replaced either with a new part, a recycled part, or an aftermarket part. The type of part used should be indicated in the final list.
Spray-gun: A spray gun is what is used to spray paint on a professionally prepared surface and usually involves an air compressor to run the device.
Spray Pattern: The spray pattern is how the spray from the paint gun is adjusted from a small round pattern to a wide flat shape covering a lot of space depending on the surface that is going to be painted.
SS: SS is an abbreviation for Single Stage paint which is a paint not having a Clear coat
SSU: This is a term that stands for Singe Stage Urethane.
Stopper: A stopper is body putty that is used to fill in defects such as pinholes after regular filler has been applied.
Striping: Stripping is a term that refers to a common problem when spraying metallic surfaces. This can be corrected, but can cost a bit to undo and is usually a problem encountered by those who do not have a great deal of experience with auto body repair and repainting.
Stoving: This is a term that refers to the action of drying paints by subjecting them to heat using specially designed devices.
Surfacer: A sufracer is a coating that is applied after a primer and which fills in minor scratches and dings and makes the undercoat smooth so that surface paint can be applied successfully.
Tint: Tint refers to time spent by the painter to tint the color of the paint in order to make sure that it matches up with the original.
Waterborne Coating: Waterborne Coating is a coating that is made up of five percent water.
Wet and Dry Paper: Wet and dry paper is actually a waterproof abrasive paper which is used when wet in order to rub down the paintwork as part of the preparation for finishing and painting. Many times it is added to a bucket of water and then is spread over the vehicle and allowed to dry.
Wet-on-Wet: Wet on Wet refers to the process of applying two paint products that do not require sanding in between applications. There are specific types of paint that are used for this process.