Paint & Body Repair

For most of you reading this your car or truck is your pride and joy. You keep your baby in tip-top shape, so it always runs and looks its best. When you’re walking away after parking, you always have to turn around and gaze at it a bit, and you never tire of other’s admiring stares. Then it happens, an accident and your prized possession is scarred. But don’t despair, just about any vehicle is repairable, just look at the dedicated enthusiasts who have taken basket cases and barn finds that were thought to be unsalvageable, and brought them back to like new condition and better. All it takes is know-how, some money, and the right tools and supplies. While we can’t supply the expertise or the cash, we can supply the paint & body repair equipment and consumables. From abrasive blasting, dent repair tools, grinders, sanders, and body filler to air compressors, spray guns, polishers and wax, we have everything you need to bring your baby back to its former glory.

To paint a car you need a compressor, but besides the paint spray gun, there are other body repair tools like dual-action sanders, commonly called DAs, grinders, drills, reciprocating body saws, and blast cabinets that require air. Compressors are available in a wide range of gallon size, horsepower, CFM (Cubic Feet per Minute), and PSI (Pounds per Square Inch) capacities, in positive displacement, piston-type single and 2 stage, and rotary screw designs, for stationary installation and portable use, and with various tank configurations. Stationary compressors are commonly available with 30, 60, 80, or 120-gallon tanks, with the tank arranged horizontally or vertically, in stand-up configuration, which takes up less room, with the compressor driven by a gas engine or single or 3-phase electric motor. Some compressors are “oil-less” meaning they are pre-lubricated; there is no oil level to check or oil to periodically change. Factors like the size of the tank, the flow from the pump and the motor horsepower will determine what you can accomplish with air tools.

Tools like spray guns, DA sanders, and cut-off wheels require large volumes of air and will exhaust a small compressor quickly, limiting what you can do and forcing you to wait for pressure to build up in the tank. A compressor with a 60-gallon tank will allow continuous use of tools like DA sanders and grinders and may allow you to completely spray panels like a hood, but if you want to be able to paint an entire car or have multiple sanders, grinders, and impact wrenches in continuous use at the same, an 80-gallon tank is generally necessary. Tank size being equal, a compressor with a higher flow pump and higher horsepower motor will force more air into the tank and make recovery faster. Along with the compressor you’ll need oil for oiled compressors, and air lines, fittings and couplers to connect the air tools to the source. We have coiled lines that are convenient for bench use as well as lengths of hose up to 100 ft. Our retractable hose reels allow you to feed out only the length of hose that’s needed. Moisture can destroy air tools and ruin paint jobs, so we offer filter/regulators to remove water and dirt and set maximum air pressure, and air tool oil for lubrication.

One of the most important elements of any body repair procedure is gaining access to what you’re working on, so you can determine the extent of the damage and do a thorough repair. This may involve raising and safely supporting the vehicle and we’ve got the jacks and jack stands for the job. Here you’ll also find all the hand and power tools you need for vehicle disassembly/assembly, including metric and standard, also known as SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers), box end, open end, combination, flare nut, ratcheting, and hex wrenches in all popular sizes, as well as complete wrench sets; 1/4", 3/8", 1/2", 3/4", and 1” drive metric and standard, shallow and deep well, 12-point and 6-point sockets and socket sets, and fine-tooth and coarse-tooth straight and swivel-head ratchets in various lengths, breaker bars, and specialty wrenches and sockets such as dial and click-style torque wrenches, and hex bit, Torx bit, and tamperproof bit sockets.

Our impact wrenches, available with pneumatic and corded or cordless electric power, provide the force to remove lug nuts and other large fasteners quickly and easily, especially those in hard to reach places where applying the necessary leverage to remove them manually would be impossible, and our 90-degree angle and straight air or cordless electric ratchets can remove and install smaller fasteners much faster than would be possible cranking a hand ratchet. Plus, we have 3/8", 1/2", 3/4", and 1" drive impact sockets and complete shallow, deep well and hex drive socket sets, and extensions and universal joints. Trim can be removed easily without damage to the trim or vehicle paint with our molding, trim and fastener removers.

There are different methods for repairing body panels and preparing them to where they’re ready for paint, and we have tools for each step of the process. Our blasting equipment, including sand and media blasters and abrasive cabinets, will remove rust, dirt, and old paint, bringing panels back to bare metal so an accurate assessment of damage can be made. If you need to cut sheet metal to remove rusted or damaged areas or for custom work, we have cut-off wheels, shears, nibblers, and reciprocating body saws, some available with air or electric power, as well as air chisels and plasma cutting machines. For pulling dents we have stud welders, slide hammers, pneumatic dent pullers, and other types of equipment, and you can coax panels back into shape with our body hammers and dollies, many that come in complete sets. Whether you’re replacing panels at factory seams or sectioning, we have the MIG and TIG welding equipment for attachment, and we offer power riveters for servicing vehicles with rivet-bonded panels. And for creating custom panels, we have tools like sheet metal brakes, english wheels, shrinker stretchers, and bead rollers.

Our grinders, along with the appropriate grinding disc for the job, which you’ll find in our abrasives collection, can be used for rough finishing jobs like grinding welds. They can also be used to remove rust and bring areas to bare metal in preparation for panel installation. After a rough sand with one of our DA sanders, body filler can be applied. We have mixing boards where body filler can be mixed with hardener, and spreaders in several sizes for mixing and applying the body filler. After the filler has set-up it can be sanded. In our adhesives collection we have sheets of sandpaper and adhesive backed sandpaper rolls in coarse to superfine, ultra-fine, and micro-fine grits. For applying primer and top coats we can supply you with gravity feed, suction feed, and pressure feed spray guns, including HVLP (High Volume Low Pressure) guns. We also have airbrushes, undercoat spray guns, spray gun cups, filters, and other spray gun parts, and spray gun washers and cleaning kits, in addition to other painting necessities including paint shakers, mixers and mixing cups, masking tape and masking machines, parts protectors like wheel bags and mirror maskers, and air and electric polishers and polishing pads.

Along with primer and topcoats for application with spray guns, we can offer you many easy to apply spray can products including grease & wax remover, high-temp engine and exhaust system paints, trunk splatter paint, interior dye, detail paint, and much more. Pinstripes can really set off paint work, but in addition to our pinstripe tape we also have window tinting kits and a huge selection of expressive window graphics, and camouflage vinyl wrap kits and the squeegees needed for installation. And you can keep that fresh paint glossy shine well into the future when you maintain the finish with our detailing products. Everything to make your ride sparkle is here including car wash, wax, glass cleaner and wheel & tire care products, spray detailer and microfiber towels.

Safety should always be the most important consideration when working with paint & auto body repair tools. Safety glasses are absolutely essential. Dust or debris from a grinder or sander, or rust particles and media that become airborne during abrasive blasting, can cause everything from mild eye discomfort to complete loss of vision. We offer safety glasses and goggles with clear and tinted lenses, face shields, and eye wash safety stations. Sanding paint, grinding metal, abrasive blasting, and other body repair operations can fill the air with dust and debris that can be harmful if inhaled. The particulate respirators we offer are adjustable for a tight fit and optimal lung protection. Paint spraying operations and exposure to other harmful airborne toxins and chemicals requires more sophisticated protection. We can supply you with half face and full-face air purifying respirators that fit comfortably and have replaceable filters or cartridges. And for protection under the most extreme conditions we have supplied air masks, visors and hoods. Plus, we have all the protective body gear like coveralls, spray socks that fit comfortably around the head and neck, and complete hooded paint suits.