Toronto, ON -- (ReleaseWire) -- 11/18/2019 --Automotive Collision and Body Shop Damages GPR - Glue Pull Repairs

Information leading the way to GPR or Glue Pull Repair. GPR News mentions "The Paintless Dent Removal industry has taken a huge turn over the past 2 years and especially this year 2019 has made an impression.

While the present GPR industry leaders KECO and CamAuto Pro leading the way with specialty tools and tabs, this will be our future of dent removal. KECO owner Chris White and Camauto Pro owner Charles Aoun have been introducing new products into body shops and collision repair facilities across the USA and providing either GPR training or demos to shops and staff technicians".

This move into bodyshops and collision repair centers coincides with OEM vehicle manufacturers normal body panel conventional repairs which may include grinding of panels, welding new panels in replacement, stud pulling mig welders to name a few past operations.

Manufacturers are making changes in the manufacturing of vehicles containing HSS, high strength steel, lighter weight steel and aluminum panels.

To date with the collision centers and body shops that have brought in the GPR tools and equipment, they have been presently surprised at the increase in repairs involving labor times, speed and accuracy over past years and methods. Panels are saved and vehicles stay factory over new replacement parts. No grinding of panels to pull dent damages.

Shop owners and staff are easily trained in the use of the GPR process and receive either a training day including GPR certification or a demo of equipment is provided by KECO or CamAuto Pro.

The USA has seen a huge demand for GPR training/certification with collision and bodyshops introducing the necessary tools into daily vehicle repairs. Within the next 2 years GPR in the collision repair industry will be common knowledge and now the USA is leading the way in this industry development.

The Canadian collision industry is just now beginning to see an interest and introducing the GPR equipment into shops and getting demos provided by CamAuto Pro.

GPR News states Glue Pull Repair industry is the Future of Dent Repairs and will soon be common practice for all body shops, collision industry and PDR,Paintless Dent Removal techs within a couple of years. With more and more aluminum body panels and HSS- High strength steel, manufactures making changes to vehicles is leading to the end of common repairs in bodyshops especially.

Grinding, welding and stud pulling is going to be a thing of the past and opens the doors to the world of GPR – Glue Pull Repair. This is where history is being made. HSS- High strength steel and aluminum panels can be a challenge to repair and keeping panels original.

Camauto Pro has just launched a proven method to heat and pull. Yes GPR- Glue Pull Repairs on HSS high strength steel and aluminum panels with open propane flame or heat gun. Finally you have a Heat Protection Gel – Thermal Barrier . Water-base formula that allows you to heat and pull. Repairing aluminum and high strength steel the proper way.

Industry leaders suggest now is the perfect time for all involved especially PDR technicians to get trained and or hone their skills in GPR as you will walk into a body shop one day soon and watch collision repair techs pulling out dent damages with GPR tools and equipment over conventional PDR, Paintless dent removal.

Repair vs. Replace - How Glue Pull Repair Enables Technicians

GPR News says "It's a frequent refrain in our business: "The insurer asks that I repair the panel, but I think it needs replacement." Now you can make repairs easier, faster, and with less body filler. No need to replace the panel. You can repair it with KECO Glue Pull Repair or CamAuto Pro (GPR) products and the pull-to-paint process. These expert glue-pull repair products and educational programs from KECO or CamAuto Pro are the innovative, fast, contemporary way to repair body damage, providing an easier approach than traditional repair methods such as stud welding and panel beating. And the best part: you can pump up your bottom line with just a basic knowledge of how to use them.

Conventional Vs. GPR Methods

Conventional methods, although time-tested, are invasive. For a major dent, the technician often has to drill into the panel and weld studs onto it in order to pull the dent out. This damages the surface paint and the panel's interior e-coat. The technician must put forth the energy to drill into the body and make skilled welds to set the studs. The tech puts forth additional energy in order to pull the dent, plus he must then seal and repair the holes he created – new damage that he must now fix.

KECO Tabs mentions GPR is much less intrusive and requires less of the technician's energy. It's a simple procedure he follows every time that assures consistency and great work. The tech first cleans the surface, then determines the material he's working with (steel, high-strength steel [HSS], or aluminum). Next, he selects the correct glue tab, glue, and puller tool, applies the glue, adheres the tab, pulls the dent; lifts the lows and knocks down the high points from the surface, and finally skims the body filler, sands, primes, and paints. That's it! No drilling or welding and the technician expends less energy using Keco's ergonomic tools.

In addition, with GPR, most of the surface paint remains, so the repair requires far less of the last step of sanding, priming, and painting, and the interior e-coat remains pristine as well. An additional plus is that shops do not need separate areas for working on aluminum versus steel. Technicians work on both metals in the same area without concern of cross-contamination.

High Tech Vehicles and Requirements

Times are changing. New high-tech and electric vehicles have stringent repair procedures that address the electrical currents that run through panels. These currents power sensors and backup cameras that previous makes and models did not have. If you use traditional body-repair methods, these vehicles require in-depth, time-consuming, and expensive scanning and re-calibrating procedures after the repair. With less intrusive KECO GPR, there's no need to remove panels, and depending on the make, model, extent, and location of the damage, there's less of a need to re-calibrate sensors and back-up cameras. (While KECO techniques reduce the need for re-calibration, you may still need to re-calibrate because sensors are precision-aimed at the factory and must be set back to their original "focus" or aim so they function properly. Read the article in "Body Shop Business" regarding the need to re-calibrate, the difference between re-calibrating and scanning, and related topics.)

GPR is the contemporary way to repair body damage that takes into consideration high-tech vehicle idiosyncrasies and manufacturer requirements. Because GPR is less intrusive than traditional methods, eliminating stud welding and dramatically reducing panel beating and sculpting, technicians can reduce the need for scanning and re-calibration on high-tech cars. In addition, with repair instead of replacement, GPR allows shops to eliminate long waits for replacement parts so your key-to-key rates are dramatically improved.

A Symbiotic Relationship

In the shop when a repair comes in, the technician researches and then recommends the proper repair for that unique situation. Banking on his/her years of experience, know-how, and analysis, an experienced tech is on the front line when it comes to repairs and replacements. Shop owners depend on the tech's professional opinion before sanctioning the repair and giving it the go-ahead. Manufacturers, for their part, publish repair procedures that the tech's recommendations must adhere to and which shop owners must take into consideration before giving the OK. Owners also have to consider that insurance adjusters edit the price they will pay for the repair based on inaccuracies they find in the shop/tech's quote. It's a balance that the three vested parties have to maintain to make the business work. After all, if insurers don't pay, shops go out of business and technicians are out of job.

It's understandable that the technician would rather, in many cases, replace the panel than repair it because it's easier. But insurers are not going to pay for a replacement when a repair is less expensive. And the shop owner is caught in the middle: he wants to make it easy for his technicians but he also must go along with the insurer's payouts.

So what does this have to do with glue pulling? KECO techniques, products, and training can help attain all three parties' objectives. While glue pulling may not seem as easy as replacing the entire panel, it's easier than welding and stud setting. So the tech expends less energy and less time but achieves the same, or better, professional results. The insurer is happy because it pays for a repair rather than a replacement, and the shop owner is happy for both of these reasons, plus s/he has a happy technician and maintains a good relationship with the insurer.

Aluminum Surface Area and Why Glue Pull Repair Works

Auto makers have experimented with various manufacturing materials over the years. Steel, iron, composites, plastic, aluminum, and even wood have been the materials of choice. In the early 1940s, Henry Ford even produced a car body made completely of soy; other manufacturers have been using plastics and composites for some time not only for door panels but bumpers and fenders as well. Remember the salespeople at Saturn dealerships demonstrating the toughness of their cars' plastic body panels by jamming a shopping cart into a door or kicking the panel, resulting in no damage?

Today aluminum is getting most of the press, for a number of reasons. Car makers use it in doors, hoods, trunks – even in complete vehicle structures. According to the Aluminum Association, aluminum has the strength of steel but has only 50% of the weight. Obviously, this indicates big savings in energy efficiency, which for vehicles means more miles per gallon of gas or diesel. As an added benefit, people recycle 90% of the aluminum in a vehicle at the end of its life.

Stud Welding

Technicians use stud welding for panel repair in most body shops. This means welding aluminum studs into the panel, attaching a pull tool to the studs, and pulling the dent out from the front. Stud welding does not always involve removing the panel, but it still requires substantial pounding, filling, sculpting, and finishing work.

Anyone who has ever stud welded to repair a dent can tell you it can present problems. Aluminum studs often pop off during the pull, which means you may have to re-weld or try to make the pull with the remaining studs, perhaps inviting more damage if that doesn't work. In addition, when removing the studs after the pull, you can easily tear holes in the metal, creating even more repair time. When you are finally done with your pull, you have to remove the studs, skim coat, and finish the area.

The reason studs sometimes pull out is because they cover too little surface area on the panel. The surface area is not large enough to sustain the force of the pull. As a result, when you pull, you often rip holes in the panel as the studs pull out because there is too little strength in the metal for the pull. How, then, do you increase the surface area to pull without creating holes and welding more studs?

GPR Advantages

With glue pull repair (GPR), you attach a plastic piece, called a tab, to the damaged area. The tab covers much more surface area than a stud so you have more area of the dent to pull with. This allows you to apply more pulling power without fear of additional damage to the panel in the form of holes. In addition, because you do no stud welding, you do not violate the surface of the panel or anything on the backside.

GPR provides an efficient, clean way to pull the dent. With its tab-and-adhesive method of pulling, after the adhesive is set, you attach your pull tool to the tab and pull the dent out. Once you've pulled the dent, you simply remove the adhesive with a spray of isopropyl alcohol, do some minor knock down work, skim coat and finishing, and you're through. No studs breaking off and no additional holes to fill as a result.

Use Can Use Your Own Tools

Glue pulling is a straight swap for stud welding or wiggle wire setups where you utilize the pulling techniques and tools that they already have. Our adaptors, tabs, and glue are extremely cost effective compared to purchasing aluminum-specific tools and components. We offer adapters so that you can continue to use the bridges and fulcrum bars you already have in your tool box. You can enter the aluminum body repair business tomorrow and be on your way to increased revenue and improved shop efficiency with GPR.

On-Site Training
GPR News Says Learn how to implement KECO and CamAuto Pro techniques and tool usage, and how to integrate them into your shop workflow for increased efficiency, better repairs, and more profits.

Find out more and watch the industry https://gprnews.ca

GPR News
Toronto, Ontario
GPR Glue Pull Repair News
Collision, Bodyshop and PDR Technicians
Products and Information Related Industry GPR