Collision Repair on 1996 Ford Thunderbird

Almost Everything's Car of the Day is a collision repair on a 1996 Ford Thunderbird. The car came in with a deep dent on the passenger side quarter panel. We pulled out the dent and repainted the area for a seemless repair.

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1999 Toyota Solara Bumper Paint!

Almost Everything's Car of the Day is a 1999 Toyota Solara.  This sporty Camry-Based coupe came to our shop with shiny paint on the majority of its body, unfortunately the rear bumper stood out like a sore thumb. It had been replaced with a used part from another Toyota Solara following a recent fender bender.  Instead of pointlessly painting the entire car, we color matched only the bumper, using our premium "Factory Match Waterborne" paint!

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Motor Trend Stages "World's Greatest Drag Race IV"

Enough of collision repairs and car paint nuances--let's spend a few minutes with some really cool, really fast cars, some of which we can afford and some priced in the stratosphere.



Thanks to our buddies at Motor Trend for sending us an e-mail announcing this year's results.

Washington High School Car Show

Join us at the 11th annual Washington High School Car Show & Food Drive this weekend. Almost Everything Autobody returns as a proud sponsor. The car show raises funds for the auto program at the school and for Mission Valley Regional Occupational Programs (ROP.) The event doubles as a food drive for the Tri-City Homeless Shelter.

Date: Saturday, May 3, 2014
Time: 7:00 - 4:00
Place: Washington High School
38442 Fremont Blvd.
Fremont, CA 94536

For more information, visit: https://www.facebook.com/Whs.Car.Show

Almost Everything Named Best Body Shop by Bay Area Voters

Woo Hoo! Thanks!

The Bay Area A-List contest happens every year and has been sponsored by the San Francisco Chronicle, ABC-7, SFGate.com and CityVoter.com. Tens of thousands of votes were cast. Hundreds of businesses were nominated. When the dust settled, Almost Everything came in 1st out of 78 nominees in the Auto Body Shop category. So thanks to the many happy customers who voted for us!

We've repaired thousands of cars. Here's a few examples of our work. . . 

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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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