Take a New Direction with MSC's Auto Body Program

Looking for a new direction with your career? Check out the Maricopa Skill Center Auto Body program!  

This January an exciting new enrollment plan launched for the Auto Body program at MSC. Students are now moving through the Auto Body Basic Metal Repair and Refinishing certificate program as a cohort. The students will finish the program in mid August.

Program details: 

Students are in class from 8 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday. It is a 1011 clock hour program that takes approximately eight months to complete.

What students learn while in the cohort:

Students first have essentials for auto body and then move onto Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards for auto body.

Next is the Introduction to Repair. Students learn MIG welding, paint-less dent removal and plastic bumper repair. Students learn how to repair 3 panels and one plastic bumper during their time in introduction.

After that, there is Introduction to Refinishing. The students paint the panels they repaired in the Introduction to Repair. Once painted, students learn detailing of vehicles.

Students then move to Auto Body Metal Repair where they learn frame repair and using a frame alignment machine. Students are required to work on one vehicle to finish the section of the course. Students’ personal vehicles can be worked on or they can team up with a classmate who has one.

To finish the program, students then move onto Auto Body Refinishing and they are required to refinish the vehicle they repaired.

I-CAR Certification:

All students have to pass Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair certification exam before graduation. I-CAR is an international organization dedicated to the training in collision repair. The certification helps the student look more marketable when applying for jobs. The students complete a total of 14 tests to get certified. All tests are taken online and at the students convenience.

After graduation:

The students can look forward to apprentice level jobs as painters or metal repair in shops.

Next program start dates: 

May 5 (Must be enrolled and have taken assessment by March 10^th)

July 7 (Must be enrolled and have taken assessment by May 19^th)

Aug. 25 (Must be enrolled and have taken assessment by June 30^th)

Find out more! Call 602.238.4350. Visit the website. Public tours are available 9:30 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Program of the Week: Auto Body

Auto Body Refinishing 

We drive to school. We drive to work. We drive back home. We do it again the next day, everyday. Many of us take driving for granted that we don't realize how much sun exposure is damaging our car's paint job. Luckily, there's a way to refinish and fix the outer appearance of your car.


Students from the Auto Body Program at the Maricopa Skill Center demonstrate how to do a solid paint job in auto body refinishing. 

Auto Body garage at Maricopa Skill Center.

Preparation
Students remove and disassemble all parts to a car. After they are all taken down, students use soap and wax grease remover to clean all parts.

All parts and panels removed from a '03 Chevy Malibu.

Rust
Once all the parts are cleaned, a 40-Grit Sandpaper is used to strip down the paint. An 80-Grit Sandpaper is then used to take out all rusted areas. Once the rusted areas are smoothed out it is ready for masking application.

Clayton Cluff masks a door panel before applying primer.

Masking
Yellow tape is used for masking, which helps prevent paint from bleeding underneath. After all areas are carefully masked, the next step is to apply Etch primer.

Primer
Etch primer and primer is then applied to give the best protection to the metal. After the primer dries, wet sanding is done to help the paint adhere to the metal.

Paint
The next step is to reassemble all the parts and panels back together. The car is then driven to the paint booth where students spray base coat. After the base coat dries, three coats of the original paint are sprayed. After a few days of drying, three coats of clear are then sprayed.

Buff
After the clear coats dry, wet sanding is done again to sand out any other imperfections of the paint job. The car is then buffed and polished. 

Manuel Ortiz buffs the hood of a '93 Honda Prelude.

So there you have it! It may sound easy, but think again. This whole process takes a lot of time and skill to finish and MSC students got it under control. 

Stay tuned for next week's program spotlight: Health Care!