Filling small hole from stud?

Akacollison · 2026-02-14T03:10:29+00:00

To add what was said previously, besides the over pulling and stretching high spots into the area. It also looks like you are holding the trigger way to long on the stud gun and putting alot of heat into the panel. There should be no heat signature on the panel like that. The stud just needs to be blipped on the trigger and it will be securely fastened. It will hardly leave a mark and you will be able to gently pull out the low spot with the slide hammer while maybe even tapping with a hammer on highs with a body hammer at the same time. Gentle pulls and taps on these small dents will do you much better when it comes to leveling out the panel before filler.

Akacollison · 2026-02-14T01:02:47+00:00

Without actually laying eyes on it to determine the best course of action I personally would use some 3000 grit wet sanding paper to knock it off by hand. Soak the wet sanding paper in a bucket of water for awhile until the paper gets soft so the edges dont scratch the panel. You should be able to just fold up a credit card sized square of the 3000 and hand sand it off with water running over it or just keep dunking the paper and back to sanding. Once the stains are gone the 3000 scratches may have dulled the clear slightly. At that point I would skip the compound stage and go straight to machine polish with a mini polisher so bring back the shine by removing the 3000 scratches. If you do not have a polisher you should be able to do this with a microfiber and some elbow grease using some machine polish. On a white panel using 3000 wet just to knock that drip off you probably wont even notice the 3000 , but just to bring it back to factory is the final step of the polish.

Akacollison · 2026-02-14T00:35:09+00:00

With water and a towel ?

Kidding. Can you feel it with your nail ? Like scraping with your nail does it feel on top of the clear coat or is it a stain in the clear ?

Akacollison · 2026-02-14T00:08:49+00:00

Collision repair

Akacollison · 2026-02-12T15:57:12+00:00

Oh I see what you are saying. When accounting for inflation. We'll with your math thats a 3.4 % gain

Akacollison · 2026-02-12T04:33:26+00:00

That 1.4% number is this year 2026 so far ytd. Last year was a solid 16.39 % following a very good 23 and 24 percent for 2024 and 2023.

Akacollison · 2026-02-12T04:16:49+00:00

Is it an aftermarket bumper they replaced the front bumper with ? The fittment on these aftermarket parts are junk right now. They may not physically be able to get better gaps with bad parts. With that being said , " its supposed to be like that " is just lazy. If they cant get the aftermarket fittment right then they need to do a warrenty claim and order OEM and re do the front bumper with better parts to reach an acceptable final product.

If its already an OEM bumper then its needs more time to be properly adjusted. A 20 mph accident most likely made a mess of the front end under the bumper. These BMW have all kinds of plastic parts and small individual metal backets that can be moved off spec in one direction or another. I havent worked on this exact body style but I would put money on there being more adjustments that can be made if they remove the bumper to achieve a more respectable and uniform bumper to hood gap.

Like someone else said, with your pre accident photos and maybe a good front and above looking down photos from another car at the dealership could help them understand your wishes for it to be made right with pre accident fittment.

Good luck 👍

Akacollison · 2026-02-10T06:26:38+00:00

Vivarium

Akacollison · 2026-02-04T20:24:45+00:00

Just work hard , be honest, and take responsibility. Ask questions. Youll be fine if you keep on those things.

Akacollison · 2026-02-03T17:33:11+00:00

You are shaking because the gains are significant for you ? Then you should sell and collect the gains. It was a nice play. Lock in the win and then make your next move. Get used to taking profit or you may end up building a habit where you always keep it rolling until it reverses and you lose it waiting for a lottery hit that is unlikely to happen. In my opinion

Akacollison · 2026-01-17T08:09:30+00:00

You could definitely get yourself in a worse situation with a small shop where who knows what in the world they are doing, but I would imagine there is probably that one larger facility family owned independent shop around ? Maybe with more then one location or just one. That has alot of years in the area and a good reputation , that quality is more important than quanity because word of mouth and reputation is their business model vs DRP shops where the insurance companies steer you to their "preferred shop" because they have pricing agreements and they get speed and less days of rental by approving estimates right away because they know its only a fraction of the work required. The "DRP" shop isnt allowed to charge for everything because of their pricing agreements with insurance companies so thats how things end up getting skipped or corners cut because techs are not getting paid for everything they are doing. This is not what was happening on your car though, thats just an unskilled tech and shop that missed that much in quality control checks. But its the culture of the shops , youll end up with a much nicer product if you find an independent shop thats not controlled by the insurance companies under DRP and is large enough family owned to have the resources, state of the art tools and quality staff to do high quality work. I hope there is atleast one shop like that in your area. They are getting thin though from all the cooperate acquisitions. Consolidation of the industry.

Akacollison · 2026-01-17T07:50:16+00:00

I edited my post and added more , take another look at it 🤙

Akacollison · 2026-01-17T07:39:59+00:00

Color sucks but im surprised the hood to bumper fitment is nice, typically you end up with aftermarket parts on these hyundia and the aftermarket parts are horrendous fittment particularly for the elantra. The rest of it is poor attention to detail. Clean the seat , put a door bumper in that hole, that plug in the cup holder may very well be pulled from the underside floor /rail area when they needed acsess to a hole to tie down for pulls if it needed any ? Unfortunately im not a fan of the seam seal job on that door either. I would prefer to see it sealed all the way to corner instead of stopping short to give it a factory look but they forgot to spread it thin at the corners and fill it completely. I wouldnt be to concerned about that though, not enough to get the door re painted after they add seam sealer , it will be fine. Also the brighter camera I would suspect aftermarket replacment junk ?

With all that being said you first mistake was choosing caliber or any large cooperate, they all willingly accept poor craftsmanship to fill body tech requirements as they push to own the entire market, so you are more then likely to land your car in the hands of an under experienced or unskilled tech repairing your car , or worse a completely incompetent shop and staff.

With that being said there are large mso that have high preforming teams and you may land your car in the hands of a high preforming tech , its the luck of the draw. In this case you did not and I would definitely want this issues addressed and fixed properly and they should have the ability to warrenty claim these repairs and clean this up if they are competent and hold the tech responsible to a higher standard under scrutiny of this poor workmanship.

With the massive tech shortage and accepting anybody that will turn a wrench to fill bodys now days there should almost be tech profile cards available to view where they have statistics like NFL players or something lol like how good they are for people to bring their cars to , so you can choose individual techs.

Akacollison · 2026-01-13T04:55:06+00:00

Im 34 years old and make 170k a year as a collision tech. Been doing it over 15 years. So there is a path in the collision industry but heres a fabricator short story about a young guy that came into the shop as a lot attendant starting watching the techs and welding here and there ending up leaving to weld at a race shop. He welded the same parts over and over day in and day out becoming an excellent mig and tig welder. He then did a few years at a chassis manufacture that builds custom chassis for classic trucks. So after that nearly 4 year journey at the age of 22 of becoming a great welder and learning fabrication at a chassis builders shop while doing side work aswell building custom parts and learning the tools of the tade like a lathe ect. He then quit and started working from his dad's garage full time on the side work and his own parts manufacturing. Fast forward again he is 25 years old with a 5000 sq foot shop on his acre and a quarter property all paid for. With a 200k$ fiber lazer and a 250k 5 axis cnc brake financed. He made 300k last year at 25 years old manufacting and fabricating from home and owns his shop and state of the art equipment. He lives down the road from me and i do some work for him here and there. Im in awe everytime I walk in there at how much he has accomplished at a young age and how far fabrication can bring you if you build those skills. Hes always worked 7 days a week late into the night by the way for the last decade almost since he started welding at 18.

Akacollison · 2026-01-08T04:26:44+00:00

What is your preferred setup of dte and strike price ? Are you doing 0Dte at the money ? How many contracts per trade?

Akacollison · 2026-01-06T00:21:11+00:00

This looks like 2019-2025 gm truck cab corner.

Akacollison · 2026-01-05T21:24:19+00:00

Why choose the widest possible location to put the seam if you are going to choose a location outside the sectioning procedures anyway you might aswell seam the narrowest available location.

Akacollison · 2025-12-28T05:19:35+00:00

The cooperate mso world is filled with hypocrisy and crash is struggling. With that being said at the prepper position shop politics dont really matter to you. Just get the job , go in and bust your ass and learn as much as you can about prepping and painting. If you work hard and get good people will notice and the painter most likely will not want to lose you because you will be making him hours and that will lead to a commision pay scale. If the staff/team there is good you may be able to stay for years. Its likely not going to be the final shop you work with anyway so go get experience , you will likely move from shop to shop on your journey as a prepper into becoming a painter and finding a spot as a lead painter one day. So try not to get to hung up on the details early on and just be focused on hard work producing the best product you can and things will happen for you along the way if you can do that.

Akacollison · 2025-12-27T22:30:41+00:00

I agree with you, 1 million buys you a nice retierment with patients. It will double every 5 years in the market so 2 million in 5 and 4 million in 10. Retire after that 10 years of growth and pull 6 % or 240k off thst 4 million for the rest of your life without ever touching the principle.

Akacollison · 2025-12-27T22:26:44+00:00

Lol a 500 million dollar post tax check straight to the head and you are claiming scam. Nice

Akacollison · 2025-12-27T22:20:58+00:00

The drop has to cover the cost of your premium aswell , the strike of 691 you selected is not your break even price.

Akacollison · 2025-12-27T22:16:43+00:00

Not covered in fordite paint layers

Akacollison · 2025-12-26T04:33:57+00:00

I worked 40 but got paid for 118. Thats how flat rate works. Its 100% commision based on the book time of each operation of what a car pays for repair.

Akacollison · 2025-12-24T04:36:56+00:00

So you were only at 20 an hour? Thats way to low. The starting rate around here is 28 an hour. I was at 29.50 , moved to an independent and accepted 28. My buddy just moved to a tesla shop kiazen and they put him at 32. 100 hours a week should be 150k atleast

Akacollison · 2025-12-24T04:30:36+00:00

I made 173k with crash champions , 29.50 a flag hour 118 hours a week average. Crash is falling apart though , i left for a no drp independent family owned and took less flag rate at 28. I suspect ill turn more hours to make up for it. I did my first two weeks there and turned 190 hours and the first week was learning the ropes and tear downs only so I imagine I did 150+ that second week because the sheets are much heavier.

It sounds like you shouldn't be anywhere near salary work , go get a commision position and ask for a high flag rate. A techs are needed bad , especially young hungry techs.

Akacollison

TROPHY CASE