1991 Toyota MR2 Customization and Paint Job!

Almost Everything's Car of the Day is a 1991 Toyota MR2.  This "Poor Man's Ferrari" came to our shop looking like a "Poor Man's Toyota" (No Offense Toyota) its previous owners decided to Spray Paint the entire car. In addition to the spray paint, the body kit was improperly mounted, damaged, and needed replacement! The MR2's owner acquired all of the replacement parts while we tore down the car.  We mounted the new bodykit so that it fit as close to perfect as possible after repainting the car with Ford's "Hulla Blue Metallic" color that this car's owner had requested in our "Base Coat-Clear Coat" paint!

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Contest Ends Soon-Please Vote Us Best Bodyshop in San Francisco Bay Area

With just 3 days left in the annual San Francisco A-List Competition, Almost Everything Auto Body has been among the top 5 out of nearly 100 nominees. But vote counts keep growing and 1st, 2nd & 3rd place have changed a few times. Please help us stay in the lead. We're hoping for our 3rd win in 4 years.

1. Click “Vote Now!” at www.SF.CityVoter.com
2. Pick “BEST Body Shop” 
3. Sign in using Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Twitter or Microsoft. Then you can also vote for your other favorites.

Thanks!

3-Stage, Candy or Tri-Coat Paint

What is Three Stage Paint?
Three stage paint jobs have the most depth and sometimes appear to change color as a car drives by. The most common three stage paint is pearl white. Intense "Candy Apple Red" and similar paint jobs are also 3-stage. They achieve effects that regular one- and two-stage paints can't. The trick is a middle stage of paint that is translucent (partially transparent.) The middle layers can have a second color and/or pearl dust, mica and metallic flakes in it that allows light to reflect off of the base coat and the various elements differently than if the same elements were simply mixed together in regular paint. The middle stage changes the color of the base stage. It also adds the sparkle or color shifting effect of the pearl, metal or mica flake. In addition, by varying the thickness of the mid-coat layers, you can create increasing variations in the way the paint reacts with light. So at one angle you see one color and level of sparkle and irridescense then at another angle it may look dramatically more light, dark, irridescent or even a different color entirely.

Cost
Three stage paints require a vehicle to be painted three times, as opposed to one or two times with a normal paint job. So there is more labor and materials involved. Additionally, the additives for the middle stage, like pearl dust, are often expensive materials (pearl dust can really be ground-up pearls and mother of pearl.) And last, 3-stage paint jobs take a tremendous amount of skill. So the people who do them well get paid well. A three-stage paint job is not one to pick on a tight budget.

Maintenance
In everyday use, three stage paints should be treated just like any other paint. If possible, park in a garage to minimize fading from the sun. Wash off contaminants as soon as possible. Common paint killers are bug splatter, bird droppings and chemicals that fall on the car as dust or mist. And finally, protect the paint with a good, quality wax. Good waxes are typically the type that you put on, let dry, then work like the dickens to polish to a high luster. If you have a sore arm after applying wax to one fender, it is probably a decent wax. We suggest finding a good detailer and paying him/her to wax your car once or twice a year.

Three stage paints can be difficult or impossible to duplicate if you ever have an accident and need to repair a portion of the paint job. A slight variation in one of the three different paint processes can result in a dramatically different appearance from the rest of the car. Repairs on a vehicle with a manufacturer standard 3-stage paint require a larger repaint area than other paint jobs. For example, a dent on one door may require blending paint across the entire side of the vehicle. For custom or non-standard finishes, you will probably need to repaint the entire vehicle to avoid strange variations in colors and intensities.

1971 Volkswagen Transporter 2 Tone Paint!

Almost Everything's Car of the Day is a 1971 Volkswagen Transporter Van.  This Fahrvergnügen came to our shop as a primered eye sore of a transporter, looking for the right color scheme at the right price! The Van's owner had acquired a toy car that we based the color combo off of, we duplicated the Two-Tone finish with our premium "Base Coat / Clear Coat paint, then finished off the classic look with some silver pinstriping!

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1997 Nissan Half-Ton Pickup Paintjob!

Almost Everything's Car of the Day is a 1997 Nissan Half Ton "Hardbody" Pickup truck. When this truck first came into our shop it looked terrible! Its body had been "spray can primered" and there was a large dent on the hood which needed some attention. We straightened out the dent then started sanding out all of the "primered over" defects such as minor chips and scratches. Once all of our sanding was complete we pulled the truck into our paint booth where our own primer was applied, and finally repainted the entire exterior of the pickup with our Enamel paint in the truck's original color!

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Video of 3 Lamborghinis on Fire!

We approach this with some guilty glee. You know we love reporting burning super cars. Today's Wreck of the Day is a trifecta. A group of 5 Lamborghinis were travelling in convoy from the city-state of Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The middle car lost traction and crashed into the center divide. The car behind it (not sure if it was the ugly BMW or one of the other Lamborghinis) crashed into an additional 2 cars then a bus hit the lot of them. Somehow 3 of the Lamborghinis, an Aventador and 2 Gallardos, ended-up on top of each other. Being Lamborghinis, they, of course, burst into flames. And there's video! Director Norazam of the local fire and rescue reported that drivers & passengers escaped without injury.

Thanks to WreckedExotics.com for sending us the links, Ilmu Pendoman Hidup for the back story and additional photos, sriganesh2005 and The Malay Mail Online for even more video and details!

1993 Lexus SC400 Paint Job!

Almost Everything's Car of the Day is a 1993 Lexus SC400. This luxury coupe came into our shop with the typical wear and finish of a 20 year old car. It had dings, peeling paint and plenty of rock chips and scratches! We began by repairing a selected few dings that the car's owner requested to be fixed. Then we moved the car into sanding where the peeling paint was removed. All of the windows, lights and trim pieces were masked to minimize overspray on them. We rolled it into the paint booth, primered, and finally painted it with our basic Enamel for a great looking finish that didnt break the bank!

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Nature at Its Finest--A Falcon Nesting in a Tree. . .

This photo came to us in an e-mail. We don't have any information about who took it or where it was taken. It looks to us to be about a 1960-1962 Ford Falcon. Let us know if you have the story behind it.

Video of One-of-a-Kind Lamborghini Crash

Almost Everything's Wreck of the Day is a one-of-a-kind Lamborghini concept supercar called the Giugiaro Parcour. This past weekend at the 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed (FoS) the Giugiaro Parcour was participating in the Supercar Run and spun off the race track into a hay bale wall. The damage is certainly repairable but the video is still hard to watch.

Goodwood Estate where the Festival of Speed is held every year

As is so often the case, our buddies across the Bay at WreckedExotics.com alerted us to this automotive tragedy.

2004 Infiniti i35 Collision Repair!

Almost Everything's Car of the Day is a 2004 Infiniti i35. This mid-sized luxury sedan came to Almost-Everything with not just a dent, but a gash running straight through the rear drivers side quarter panel! In addition to the gash needing repairs, the rear left door was damaged so severely it needed to be replaced! We began by welding the gash shut and repairing the rest of the damage on that same panel while we waited for our replacement door to arrive from our original recycled parts supplier. Once the door arrived we installed it after painting the inside jamb. By the time the door was finished being installed, the repairs to the torn rear panel were all finished up, making this car ready for paint! We repainted the rear left quarter panel, door, and "blended" paint onto the front left door for an even repair with no hard breaks or differences in color!

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