Audi A3

The Audi A3 has been steadily growing on me as a hatchback. I reckon there are some very nice things that you can do to them to get eye-catching - "in-your-face design".... Almost tempted to get one.

Check out this pic from the Autostyle website of some of the things they are able to do with the newer shape Audi A3... Not bad at all.

Car styling and modifications

There are many different car styling modifications that you can make to a car. They are generally used to make it go faster, look better or both. This article is concerned with ideas that could make your car look better.

A lot of external car styling modifications try to make the outside of the car look smoother. The smoother lines then appeal to our sense of order and purity. To make the lines of your car more even, you may need to remove or cover up some of the design features of the original car.

Some of these original features are easy to change and can create an almost instant effect. One such case is where a moulded rubber bumper strip is fitted, that continues the bumper stripe theme, along the rest of the car. In most cases this is simply stuck onto the surface of the body and can easily be peeled away. If it is peeled away carefully there should be very little of the glue left on the body finish. Removing the bumper strip immediately cleans up the lines of your car. In a similar fashion some cars such as early Fiestas have plastic on the door pillars and round the quarter windows. Once again this can be carefully peeled away improving the image of the car.

A number of cars have grooves pressed into the metal panels of the body especially on the belt or waist line of the car. These are a hang over from when smaller metal panels had to be joined together in order to make a larger body panel. The join called a swage line was then hidden by creating the groove effect along the side of the car. These days door panels can be made using one piece of metal, and the swage line is really redundant. Despite this, it has become a recognised styling form in car design. Just take a look at all the cars that have them as you drive down the road! These swage lines may also be on the bonnet and boot as well. Swage lines disrupt the smooth lines of the car and as a result many people try to get rid of them. The usual way is to fill them in and then respray the panels. The filling can be done using standard car body filler. This can be reasonably successful but problems can occur if the panels end up being vibrated or flexed a lot. In this situation the filler may crack. In cars that have stiff suspension or on bonnets and tailgates that end up getting flexed a lot, filling with lead metal is a better alternative. Although this takes a lot longer to do the results are far better and the lead metal won’t crack or fall out. An alternative is to use a higher grade filler than the standard ones used in car repairs. Fillers from the aircraft industry have proved to be more durable than standard filler in this situation.

Another area where improvements can be made involves the locks and handles of the car. Removing the locks is the first stage. This leaves a hole which can be dealt with by welding a plate over it. The area then needs to be filled and smoothed over before painting. Doors are then opened by using an electronic key fob. These are fitted to modern cars anyway. The only problem arises if the battery goes flat and the electronic key fob fails to work. For this reason the tailgate lock is often left so that the vehicle can be entered if problems occur. Sometimes the tailgate has the lock removed and the other locks are left as standard. This is all personal choice and depends on the effect you want to achieve. The handles can also be removed and the holes filled and smoothed. In this case solenoids have to be fitted so that the doors are pushed open, as well as being unlocked, when the electronic key fob is activated.

The above ideas are really just a start when it comes to smoothing out the lines of your car. However, by doing these simple things you can create a style for yourself that is very pleasing to the eye

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This article is written by Tim Vincent. For further information on restyling, modifications and the car parts that are needed to do it, see the author's specialist web sites at http://www.fiestacarparts.co.uk http://www.cosworthcarparts.co.uk and http://www.subaruimprezacarparts.co.uk

Gauteng Motor Show

The Gauteng Motor Show is coming up shortly - check out this lekker Mercedes that they've got promoting the show:

Venue:
Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, 1 Allandale Rd
Kyalami, Midrand, Johannesburg

TIME:
08h00 to 17h00
(All Days)

SETUP:
Friday 24 April 2009
08:00 to 20:00

SHOW DATES:
Saturday 25 April 2009
Sunday 26 April 2009
Monday 27 April 2009

BREAK-UP
Tuesday 28 April 2009
8h00 to 11:00

ENTRANCE FEE:
R60 per Adult
R40 per Child
Kids Under 6 years free

New paint evokes the impression of pure water

In Japanese, the word kiyora means clean and pure. When a carmaker chooses this name for its new concept car, the environmental technologies on board and the car’s design have to deliver what the name promises. And Mazda is doing just that. At the Paris International Motor Show, the carmaker unveiled its concept of a new environmentally friendly compact car that is intended to appeal to young European city drivers. In meeting the huge challenge of translating the “pure water” theme into a visually prominent design, the Mazda Motor Europe team received support from Glasurit for colours.

Designers from the two companies collaborated closely to produce a blue-green colour that created a sensation among both visitors from the automotive sector and the general public at the Kiyora’s debut. After all, the finish does an ideal job of symbolizing the colour of water. What's more, the overall design of the car, with its blue-green finish, the transparent polycarbonate doors, the interior with its wave-shaped forms and the side members of the body that resemble flowing seaweed, produces an effect that Luciana Silvares, Senior Designer at Mazda Motor Europe, describes as follows: “The exterior finish stands for water. The lower you go, the darker the colour of the water becomes. With the Kiyora, we wanted to produce the impression of water, ice, seas and lakes, by showing transparency and depth.”

The man in charge of this project for Glasurit is Stefan Richter, Key Account Manager OEM Aftersales for automotive refinish products. During a visit to the Mazda Design Studio in Oberursel near Frankfurt, he became acquainted with the project – and tackled the big job. “It was fantastic how employees from our automotive OEM coatings and refinish coatings units collaborated with the designers from Mazda Motor Europe for several weeks. They kept on developing ideas, refining them and, in the end, came up with a really beautiful solution,” said Richter, praising all aspects of the teamwork. “The cross-divisional and company-wide cooperation was super. The idea of developing an environmentally friendly urban car and using lots of new future technologies was reinforced by the car's aesthetic features. The finish expresses the transparency and depth of water and is in complete harmony with the exterior design,” Richter said.

www.glasurit.com

Paint shops to be geared up to face the future

Appropriate expertise is required in order to give a bodyshop sound advice and provide the support needed. This is a particular challenge, which Glasurit has met by staging a consultant training programme of its own. Consultancy services in the bodyshops are provided almost solely by Glasurit employees who have gone through a special three-stage training programme for this purpose. This in-service training programme lasts more than three years altogether. Each stage – leading up to qualification, firstly, as a Process Expert, then as a Consultant and finally as a Senior Consultant – is concluded with an examination and a certificate. This enables Glasurit to guarantee uniform standards and a high level of expertise.

The training and qualification of consultants was an essential prerequisite for the launch of the RATIO-CONCEPT-plus programme. For the topics dealt with require specialised know-how as they go far beyond the actual paint product: topics relating to marketing and sales, alterations to bodyshops and the construction of new bodyshops, the assessment of capital projects, optimised bodyshop management and support for marketing and for the acquisition of new customers, to name only a few. Many qualified consultants are currently working for Glasurit throughout Europe and other employees are now undergoing training.

Basically, the offers made to bodyshops have two different goals: firstly to boost efficiency - for example by means of the Profit-Manager, a Bodyshop Audit or assistance with Bodyshop Design, via the optimisation of refinishing processes, or via Business Seminars - and secondly to generate additional business for bodyshops. In this respect, a solution for carrying out cosmetic damage repairs is available (RATIO Repair Shop) and, in addition, Glasurit has developed a special paintwork warranty which bodyshops can use to actively advertise their services to consumers.

The aim of this approach is to make the actual added value achieved by the consultancy service, in the form of greater efficiency or extra profit, transparent to the bodyshop right from the start. In the very first dialogue, a specially-developed Value Calculator is deployed; this calculates the potential savings or extra business that the bodyshop can generate with the activities planned.

Greater operating efficiency, enhanced quality of the work done, the opening up of new areas of business, differentiation of the bodyshop from its competitors – bodyshops are actively supported in these activities, which have become absolutely essential in the present-day competitive situation. For Glasurit, this business consultancy service means a huge effort – but it is not put in in a completely disinterested fashion. For RATIO-CONCEPT-plus entails objectives such as enhanced customer loyalty and, not least, the acquisition of new customers too. These customers include both independent bodyshops and ones linked to manufacturers, and in some cases projects have also been initiated in direct collaboration with the car manufacturers.

The success of a consultancy service is measured according to the number of concrete activities actually implemented on the basis of a given project. That is why Glasurit’s goal is also to monitor the bodyshop after the event. These follow-up measures include the Value Added Services Monitor with which Glasurit obtains feedback on customer satisfaction.

A professional concept has been developed for this in collaboration with Dortmund University of Technology. A detailed customer survey is to be used to determine the various factors contributing to the successful implementation of the individual services, the aim being to subsequently optimise the range of services offered whenever necessary. Using the Value Added Services Monitor, questions are to be asked about four different phases involved in the launching of a service, together with their potential success factors. Points to be determined include the quality of the selling and launching process, the quality of the service content and that of the follow-up process. This will enable valuable conclusions to be drawn regarding the quality of relations between the customer and the paint supplier.

The VAS Monitor is also an instrument for gauging what impact continuous improvement measures, advanced staff training and the optimisation of the range of services offered have in the market. It thus permits a lasting improvement in the quality of relations with the customer and the level of customer loyalty.

Almost three years after the launch of the programme, a definite trend is perceptible: the bodyshops’ expectations in terms of the support and consultancy services to be provided by the paint manufacturers are being raised. It is also perceived that the acceptability of company consultancy services, even going as far as the preparation of business plans, has increased considerably.

In-depth knowledge of the industry on the part of Glasurit is indispensable if services are to be developed that are tailored exactly to customer requirements. The range of services has already been greatly enlarged and there are plans to enlarge it even further in the years to come. Various services that focus on the bodyshop even more comprehensively are currently being prepared. Hence, there is to be an even greater shift from engineering topics to business and marketing subjects.

Charley Hutton—famed street rod painter teams up with PPG

Renowned street rod painter Charley Hutton has teamed with PPG Automotive Refinish for a number of automotive projects including custom painting of the Kurt Busch Foundation Dodge Challenger.

“I’m very excited about partnering with PPG,” said Hutton when reached at his newly expanded facility, Charley Hutton’s Color Studio in Nampa, Idaho. “I started painting cars with PPG and it’s great to be working with them again. I’ve always liked their products, support and service. While building our new facility, we have worked hard to be environmentally friendly. PPG’s new waterborne paint lines – Aquabase® Plus and Envirobase® High Performance fit perfectly into our plan. I am really impressed with the ease, sprayability and fast coverage of both of these products. The clarity of color is amazing and allows us to really be creative.”

Well-known in the custom car world for his work on high-end street rods, Hutton has won national recognition including two prestigious Ridler Awards, several Street Rod of the Year and Custom Rod of the Year awards as well as an America’s Most Beautiful Roadster Award. He made his mark in television on the Discovery Channel’s American Hot Rod show working with legendary custom car builder, the late Boyd Coddington. Hutton has also been featured on The Learning Channel’s Overhaulin’ and on Hot Rod TV.

“We’re thrilled about our partnership with Charley,” said Jeff Griffin, PPG manager, collision segment N.A. “With his sharp eye, steady hand, technical expertise and incredible creativity, he’s one of the most talented painters in the country. He’s been an advocate of PPG products for years and we’re looking forward to working together for a long time to come.”

Hutton started painting cars at 13, working in a body shop owned by a family friend and painted his first custom car when he was 15. He established his own business in 1993 at the age of 20. Hutton will be using PPG products exclusively in his shop.

BASF presents the first UVA-based system at Automechanika South Africa 2009

South Africa’s first Automechanika, a leading international trade fair in the fields of original equipment, aftermarket, workshops etc. within the automotive industry, will be held at the Johannesburg Expo Centre from 18 – 21 March 2009. Over 250 exhibitors and around 8,000 trade visitors are expected to take part in this newly launched international trade fair. Product groups highlighted at the fair include Parts and Systems, Accessories and Tuning as well as Repair & Maintenance and many more. BASF Coatings Services’ stand is listed under the latter product group and is showcasing its innovative products and solutions at its 200 square meter exhibition stand in Hall 6 at stand number 6IOO8.

BASF is exhibiting in partnership with CHIEF, an innovative equipment supplier to the collision repair industry. BASF Coatings Services is a specialist supplier to the collision repair industry located in Cape Town and has eleven branches nationwide. For the refinishing of cars and commercial vehicles, BASF offers topcoat and undercoat materials under the global brands Glasurit® and R-M® which are sold to paint distributors and automotive repair shops. BASF is a leader in the field of waterborne coatings as well as high-solid systems, enhanced by added-value tools for end users. Both BASF brands are well known for their innovative ideas: intelligent systems that make working in the paint shop faster, simpler, safer and ensure perfect refinishing results at the same time.

Glasurit® and R-M®’s UV system puts BASF ahead of the competition on two counts. Firstly, BASF is one of the first manufacturers to launch a complete system to the market, which consists of body filler; primer filler; clear lacquer; blender and the combination lamp. Secondly, BASF has increased safety measures over UVB and UVC technology.

UVA- increased safety
Unlike many competitors, BASF’s lamps use less harmful UVA and infra-red light. The benefits to the bodyshops are obvious. Workshops can use UVA light without expensive, cumbersome shielding: safety goggles for the painter are all that’s needed. Not so with UVB and UVC technology, which mean investing in a shielded workshop area and painters having to wear special protective clothing and a helmet every time. Pure drying time with UVB and UVC light may be quicker, but with UVA technology the improvements in safety; easier handling; higher throughput and no expensive shielding more than make up for this.

Who wouldn’t want to use less harmful UVA technology with a brilliant refinishing result?

Through these state-of-the-art solutions and an excellent client service, BASF Coatings Services has become known not only for its product excellence and technological reliability, but also for consistency in the market place.