Auto Refinishing in Stockbridge, MI

A whole-vehicle refinish is a different project from fixing one panel. It is worth doing when the body is sound but the finish is not: a truck whose clear coat has failed across the hood and roof, a work vehicle getting a second life, a restoration that deserves better than what it wore.

The work happens before the color

Roughly eighty percent of the labor in a quality refinish happens with no paint in the gun. Trim, handles, lights, glass seals, and badges come off rather than getting taped around, because a masked edge always shows eventually. Failed clear gets sanded back to a stable layer. Dings nobody minded under dull paint become obvious under gloss, so they get addressed now. Then primer, block sanding, and guide coat until the surface is genuinely flat, which is the step that separates a refinish from a respray.

In the booth

Sealer, base, and clear go on to the manufacturer's specification for film thickness, flash time, and bake schedule. Our PPG certification means we are following their published system rather than a recipe someone invented. Contamination control is most of the discipline: a booth that is not clean puts dust in the clear, and there is no fixing that afterward except by cutting it back and doing it again.

What you should ask any auto body shop

How much of the vehicle gets disassembled. Whether the jambs, hood underside, and trunk edges are being sprayed. What the warranty covers and for how long. A cheap repaint answers those questions badly, which is why it looks acceptable for a year and then does not.

Ours carries a 12-month, 12,000-mile warranty. Ask us at 401 N. Clinton about Icon Rocklear as well, a coating that protects the finish once it is done.