Dura-Block the hand sand block caught on very quickly when it came out about 2 years ago.
It's no wonder they are affordable and if you have spent any time hand sanding you have thought there ought to be something like this. Dura-Block is made from EVA Rubber. The Ruey Lung Rubber Co tells us that: EVA Rubber is durable plastic foam material made of EVA (Ethylene Vinyl Acetate) resin.

There is actually no rubber in the EVA foam material. The word rubber was misused for the similarity of some characteristics of EVA foam and rubber foam materials.

The foam is fairly rigid (the technical spec is 20 PCF). It does have some give to it and will conform to say the curve of a roof. The blocks take stickit long board paper.
There are three new sizes 10 7/8" teardrop shape and two new long blocks.One of the blocks is 24 inches and the other is 30 inches. Tne best web link I could find is Trade Associates Inc. If any one has a better web site please let me know.


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Prevost a Better Coupler

I spent a little time the other day with Brad Wolford he’s the Regional Sales Manager for the Prevost Corporation. Prevost is a based in France with worldwide distribution. The North American headquarters are in South Carolina. They make really superior products for fluid delivery.

It’s their hose connectors that impress me. These people have taken one of the small but vitally important pieces of the auto body repair reworked it taken it to a new level. Their Prevo.S line of couplers are safer, stronger, more reliable, and compatible with all the standard couplers. I especially like the swivel option I tried out. Next time your fighting with the couplers your using and wondering when someone will make something better give these a try. My Daddy told me one time "It only cost ten percent more to go first class". Some times it makes all the difference.

I’m going to try out their air filtration and control unit next; I’ll let you know.


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Detroit Car Show

I’ve been looking at all the reports to come out of the North American Auto Show. The Detroit Auto Show is the biggest and most prestigious of the car shows at least on this continent and the manufactures, form all over the world, show their latest and greatest. The Mazda Kabura was probably the most exciting design. There were sub compacts from the Asian automakers including the Chinese Geely. I love the idea of the Nissan Urge. This is the car that Nissan is aiming at the Gen Yers. They have partnered with Microsoft. You drive around town and when you park you can fold down the Xbox 360 screen and play your road race game using the cars steering wheel brakes and gas pedal.

All the car companies were showing off their new technologies the new Toyota Camry will offer a hybrid. And the European carmakers are pushing their new cleaner diesel cars.

Ford has the new Super Chief that I wrote about earlier and the Reflex concept car. Ford seems desperate to show they will do something. While the cars they will be selling will be more of the same.

The bigger problem, it seems to me is General Motors. Even though their stock seemed to recover a little last week and their sales in China are good many analysts see serious and persistent problems at GM. In Detroit GM unveiled the new 400hp V8 Camero.

This is hardly innovative thinking and from what I’ve heard it was designed and built in Australia. If they decide to build it where will it be built in the Cadillac plant in Lansing they sure can’t build it in Flint.

Until American carmakers take up the challenge and start giving us smaller, safer, more fuel-efficient and more reliable cars. Things are not going to get better for them. Trouble for GM means trouble for the Midwest and for America.

Lets not forget that when GM made a deal the UAW to lower the total employment from around 600,000 to the current 150,000 or so and become more efficent the people that were let go were to keep thier health insurance and retirement bennifits. The idea was that GM would sell more cars because the cars would be better cars. It seems they just don't listen to what people want.

Ford's big truck will run on 3 fuels

Gizmag reports on a the Ford Super Chief a concept veicle based on a Ford F-250. It is a bold design that has a V-10 engine that will run on gasoline, ethonal or hydrogen.I will make a big splase at the Detriot ato show that opens to the public next week.


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Sherwin-Williams announces new stabilizer

Sherwin-Williams announced a new RHF series of integrated Basecoat Stabilizer for the Ultra 7000 basecoat system.

I love the Ultra 7000 system it is very user friendly has great color matches and the standard stabilizer has no reactive reducer so the paint I mix up today I can use a week form now or a month from now. For "“better bite"” on urethane bumpers or increased chip resistance I have recommended that my customers put a capful of hardener in their base.

Digging into MSDS I see that the RHF integrated stabilizer has two diisocyanates that are going to give great bite. The trade off is you lose the indefinite pot life (it goes down to 8 hours). But they still recommend using a little hardener to improve chip resistance.

There are two little things I am wondering about in the product data sheets; they say the recoat time is 7 days. Yikes can that be right I always figured is 4 hours was a long time.

And the other thing is when doing multiple colors "“light colors dry faster than darker colors", really?

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Digital Clothing for Your Car

Gizmag reports that an Autralian promotional company named Decently Exposed, has developed a product named Auto Skins. It is a digital skin for your car. The skin costs between $US1500 to $US3000 depending on the size of the car.
They have been used not only for artistic impression but also for advertising. McDonalds, Coca Cola, Nokia and AustraliaÂ’s largest fleet, that of AustraliaÂ’s telco giant Telstra.
The AutoSkin has the double advantage of forming a protective coating which can be stripped off to reveal the original, as-new unblemished paint the car came with.




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Nissan paint that doesn't scratch

There is a story on the Pysorg.com site that announced a new non scratch paint form Nissan.

"The Japanese automaker said the paint contains a newly developed resin that can stop scratches from marking the car's outer layer."

Now I can almost imagine a resin that would do that but there is always a trade off as Dom Palon keeps reminding me. What would a resin like this trade away, color life, fade resistance, how well would it stand up to chemicals. There is also one other little thing about the story they show a scratched hood when you photoshop a photo you can usually tell what the original photo was in this case it was a Chrysler Town and Country. We'll wait and see.

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The Worst Cars of all Time

I like lists. I came upon Dan Lienert article on the Forbes web site a list of the all time worst cars. Some of the cars on the list would be on anybodies list the Yugo is there and the Fiat Strada. Also the Ford Pinto, The Chevy Vega and the AMC Gremlin. There's also the 1983-1989 Ford Bronco II this is the one that defined "prone to rollover"and the 1979-1984 Oldsmobile Delta 88 remember that one General Motors tried to convert standard gasoline to diesel. Probably the worst car of all time was the 1957-1962 Sachsenring Trabant P50 this little gem was made in East Germany and I am told everyone of them smoked coming right out of the factory. The thing is for every bad car, and I can think of a couple that are not on the list, there is an internet tribute page or a car club that honors or collects them. To view the whole list go to the Forbes The Worst Cars Of All Time and place your vote


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The Colors of the Future

Dee-Ann Durbin of the Associated Press reported in the San Diago Union Tribune on future color trends.

"Blue will get more popular in the next four years as more dramatic shades are introduced, such as watery blue-greens and smoky lilacs. Yellows and oranges will get richer and warmer. Reds will glow in deep shades of cranberry and wine, and dark brown will make a comeback."

This year PPG is showing 130 new colors for the auto makers to consider

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The Colors We Buy Now

Worldwide new car sales
34% silver
14.4% white
12.7 blue
11% black
Red, green, beige and other shades with less than 10 %. But new colors are on the way.
More on that tommorow.



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How much higher will paint prices go?

Mark Johnson of the Automotive Body Repair News interviewed officials of Dupont,BASF and Sherwin Williams and indicated that the price of paint could rise 25 percent. Now this is no surprise what also is no surprise is that the one insurance company that responded felt that was not their problem. Where does that leave the folks that fix wrecked cars well squeezed in the middle of coarse.




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What will the paint companies do?

With the recent run up in the price of gasoline some may have noticed that the price of all the allied chemicals have gone up also.
Petroleum experts warn that the maximum amount of available petroleum is approaching (estimates range from with in years to with in decades.) We have heard a lot about the need to move to a hydrogen economy but have the paint companies given any thought or more importantly invested in what they will do when there isn't enough petroleum to go around. It's really hard to imagine what a world would be like when the pharmaceutical companies are competing with the plastic companies over increasingly scarce and expensive recourses were will paint rank on the bidding list?




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Spray Can base coat

We saw a Dupont dealer bulletin today introducing their new aerosol spray cans. Seems like a good idea. We've been doing it for a number of years and it's worked out well for our customers. Dupont doesn't mention anything about including base coat fix in the paint. You know making it real base coat nor do they make a recommendation about which clear to apply over the base.
Congratulations over at Sherwin Williams for the guy that landed the account for the spray cans this is going be big for you.





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Evercoat urethane repair

The Fiberglass Evercoat factory rep stooped in yesterday and showed us thier new products. Their new MAXIM™ Medium Urethane Adhesive and the MAXIM™ Fast Urethane Adhesive caught my eye. These are urethane repair material that first comes in a standard caulking tube so you can use a regular chalking gun second it works on all the plastic we are likely to run across doing auto repair. No more deciding if it's flexible or rigid no trying to decide if it is PUR, RIM, TPE, TPUR, PC, TPO, PP, or R-RIM.
Now the next big thing you can use this stuff to rebuild tabs on bumpers and do the repairs. That is going to keep many more bumpers out of the landfill.

Thiking of a new car? Thinking small?

The Obvio is on the way. Brazil's import will be for sale in the United States next year.
This a three passenger car has an integrated rollcage disk brakes and will of course will have to comply to Federal safety standards. With a 1.6 liter 4 valve fuel injected engine that produces 115 horsepower.
It has an on board imobile carputer that if I'm reading their web site correctly has gps capabliities is your mobile phone plays cds and dvds and if your one of the first 1,000 buyers you get an I-Pod player and Boblbee backpack.
The external panels are "ABS/PMMA a special high-tech twin-sheet vacuum thermoformed multilayer plastic".
And the price: about $14,000.















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Capone painter to the stars

My daughter and I went out yesterday and to visit the new and as yet undisclosed location of Capone’s Kustoms. Capone is Denver’s own custom painter to the stars he has painted the cars of NBA stars Kenyon Martin and Chris Anderson, NFL great Tyrell Davis and is being backed by Denver Nugget Carmelo Anthony. I know there are others of note that he’s told me about but the names escape me.

The new shop may remain at an undisclosed location. He was working in a very small shop in Aurora and guys and media people hanging around was getting to be a real problem. The new shop is a big improvement it will be interesting to see what this talented young guy does now. He is the most talented painter I know.

Next time I go out I’m bringing my camera.

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Web Work

just installed Flock the new web browser it is still in beta so it's still a little buggie but it is still interinsting

Google new blog search

Check out Google's new Blog search http://www.google.com/blogsearch

New Orleans and Global Warming

Now this is a harsh thought, and I do sympathize to all those people that lost so much, but given the realities of global warming and climate change. Are we going to look back in 50 or 100 years and say "New Orleans was the first great city we lost" See the Union of Concerned Scientists for a discussion on Global Warming Lending Strength to Hurricanes so the question is does it make sense to rebuild?

Radio Show

I was a guest this morning on the Hot Rod Talk show with Van Jeffries and Mike Young on KCKK radio AM 1600 in Lakewood. That was a lot of fun we talked paint and old cars. It’s a talk show in the usual call in format. I gathered it hasn’t been on the air long and they have a 13-week run.

They seemed pretty happy with me but well, I’m a talker I like to talk I took a couple of calls. I was a little nervous at first but I think I got over it quickly. They’re going to make me a cd of it so I can hear myself. I’d like it if they would ask me back.

I wasn’t going to say anything about this considering it was my first time and all but I couldn’t help bringing up the idea of podcasting the show and I got the usual vacant look when ever I say podcasting.

Oh well if it’s only a one time thing it was fun.