Repair Process of Hallmark Autobody

Overview

Hallmark Auto Body employs fully trained and certified Technicians for the repair and refinishing of all vehicles brought to our repair facility. Our Collision Repair Technicians are fully trained and certified and are continuously upgrading their skill levels.

We provide professional repairing of various alloys and composites, sheet metal, aluminum, fiberglass and automotive plastics. In addition we provide repair service to all makes and models of vehicles.

Every vehicle is built of different steel material, partly to optimize the body (impact safety, rigidity, fuel economy, etc) and partly to make it as repair-friendly as possible. The steel material is classified into four groups based on tensile yield, which is the force required to plastically deform the material. These groups are:
• MS - Mild Steel
• HS - High Strength Steel (Phosphorous alloyed steel, HSLA (high strength steel) steel and DP steel (dual phase).
• VHS - Very High Strength Steel
• UHS – Ultra High Strength Steel (DP steel and Boron steel)

Frame

Vehicles designed and manufactured today are more technologically advanced when compared to just a few short years ago. The use of complex crush zones, high strength composites and safety systems uniquely calibrated to the vehicle frame are now very common. As a result, most vehicles today can no longer be repaired using traditional techniques and equipment of the past. They require specific equipment and repair procedures that are often unique to that vehicle in order to return them to their proper pre-collision state. 

Hallmark Auto Body provides accurate frame and unibody structural repairs that meet manufacturers specifications. Using Chief Frame and Analysis/Diagnostics Design Based Repair Systems allows Hallmark to provide you with OEM*(Original Equipment Manufacturer) approved repair capabilities. We have six state of the art computer laser guided Chief EZ-Liner frame machines. Computerized readouts ensure we have exact measuring for these repairs. This repair system enables us provide repair service to all makes and models of vehicles.
*OEM refers to the company that originally manufactured the product. When referring to automotive parts, OEM designates a replacement part made by the manufacturer of the original part.
We also provide wheel, steering and suspension alignment to all vehicles.

Body Repairs

Hallmark Auto Body provides professional repairing of various alloys and composites, sheet metal, aluminum, fiberglass and automotive plastics.

Every vehicle is built of different steel material, partly to optimize the body (i.e. impact
safety, rigidity, fuel economy, etc) and partly to make it as repair-friendly as possible.Our experience, knowledge and training allow us to provide exceptional repair service to all makes and models of vehicles.

Paint Prep

Preparing your vehicle properly prior to paint application is critical to seeing a beautiful and gleaming end result. We carefully follow a series of quality control procedures to ensure your vehicle’s paint application is smooth, resulting in a brilliant and bright finish:

• The vehicle is sanded and masked

• The damaged area is feather-edged
  (a sanding process of tapering a broken
  paint edge to a smooth finish)

• Any small imperfections are evened out
  with a polyester filler

• A pre-paint chemical wash is applied to the vehicle

• A two- component primer is applied to protect against corrosion

• The vehicle undergoes a final sanding and any dust is removed

• Urethane surfacer is applied to create a chemical bond to the substrate

• The vehicle surface is sanded and cleaned again to promote good adhesion for paint

• Paint is now applied

Hallmark utilizes a Primer Mixing room as well as a Sanding/Prep Station. These units provide ventilation and exhaust systems that provide the cleanest atmosphere for prepping your vehicle for paint.

Painting

At Hallmark Auto Body, we use Eco-friendly materials in all of our work. We are committed to environmental responsibility: our advanced filtration system greatly reduces the amount of pollutants released into the atmosphere, hazardous waste is safely shipped to disposal centers, and the majority of our paper products are recycled.

We use the Glasurit 90 Line water-borne basecoats paint system. This system is among the most environmentally friendly product in the industry today, and complies with all current Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) regulations. Glasurit Paint is the choice world-wide for OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) warranty repairs. Glasurit Paint has been chosen as an Approved or Recommended Refinish System by every leading automaker that has implemented such a program. These include Acura, BMW, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, Jaguar, Kia, Land Rover, Lexus, Mazda, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Porsche, Subaru, Toyota, VW, Audi and Volvo.

Paint Booths

1. Our top-of-the-line Downdraft Spray booth has superior airflow and the most effective lighting of any booth available today. This large booth has a 10 ft wide vehicle entrance and a 27 ft cabin length to house any car, SUV, CUV or truck.

2. Our Hi Roof Series booth is used for painting vans and other larger vehicles. This booth also is a premium spray booth with superior airflow and premium lighting.

3. Our Parts Jamming tunnel is used for painting smaller parts and accessories, and is the only one of its kind in the city. This tunnel helps to increase Hallmark’s productivity by freeing up other paint booths for larger jobs. Like our other spray booths, our Parts Jamming tunnel employs the same superior airflow and premium lighting.

These three booths have standard 3-stage filtration, which is the first step to achieving a clean paint finish. Quality lighting is also a feature of the booths, which is critical for color matching. Heavy-duty hinges keep the doors sealed tightly, and galvanized floor grates provide for ample vehicle support.

In addition to the booths, we have added Paint Mixing Rooms, which feature well- illuminated, clean ventilated working areas for mixing applications. These units utilize a positive-pressure environment, which helps to eliminate contaminated shop air from interfering with the mixing process.

Our sanding stations create a safe, comfortable work place by removing airborne particulates.

Assembly

At Hallmark Auto Body, we conduct the final reassembly of exterior body panels and components and the final reassembly of interior components.

Details

Final detailing of the vehicle includes exterior wash, pin-striping, decaling, interior vacuum, wiping down of interior and paint touch-ups.