It has been nearly a year since I found some new and improved tools at the last SEMA Show. If you are at SEMA this year, take a few minutes to check out these tools in person.
I purchase these tools, most of the time, and I do not get paid or take any compensation from sales. There are competitors with similar items and you may want to do your homework before purchasing. If anyone has a similar product, send me an email; I would like to check it out. Moreover, if anyone has a neat new tool, I would like to hear from you.
Car-Rep aka Wise Spray
I recently wrote about Car-Rep’s 2K Epoxy Primer. It is a true 2K material. When one sprays the product, moisture in the air will mix with the catalyst, and that starts the cross-linking process. The product has a 3-year shelf life and it is at the right price point.
Since the last time I wrote about this new technology, the company came out with two different products, a top coat (three colors) and DTM primers (five colors). Both are 2K epoxies.
Requiring no primers or clear coats, Car-Rep 2K Top Coats are easy to apply and are the only 2K Top Coats which require no mixing and feature unlimited pot life. They are available in high gloss jet black, satin jet black and high gloss pure white.
The other products from Car-Rep are OEM match DTM primers. Same technology, 2K epoxy primer. There are five colors to match OEM colors: light green, olive green, black, white and gray.
Polyvance
I mentioned in a previous article that Polyvance has a hot air welder for $600. It's a great starter tool for a shop that has no plastic bumper welder. They also have a bumper pliers kit that makes repairing broken tabs much easier.
Technicians often have difficulty restoring the correct dimensions of the slot, which is critical for proper bumper installation. This kit will allow the tech to quickly and accurately repairs torn slots and recessed bolt holes in automotive bumpers.
Astro Pneumatic
Last year, I showed a drill bit set from Astro Pneumatic. Everyone I have shown them to has gone to Amazon and purchased the kit.
At the same time, I purchased their in-line 4-inch Quick Change Cut-Off tool.
It is one of the easiest tools to use to cut a straight line. (I also have the long corner grinder from Dent Fix, and it does an excellent job of cutting along a line.) It has a great price point -- less than $80 at Amazon -- and you do not have to think twice about purchasing it.
I also purchased Astro’s #936 Onyx Gear Driven Heavy Duty Air Saw. I have seen the Snap-on air saw used on the structural steel test and it is one of the best, but it is a little pricey. The Astro air saw is just as good and sells for less than $150 on Amazon.
I found a substitute cut-off disc at SEMA from Millner-Haufen Tool Co. I featured this 4-inch cut-off wheel in my SEMA tools report a few years ago. It is still cutting like when it was new. I used my Astro 4-inch cut-off tool with the Millner-Haufen 4-inch disc to cut some 3/16 metal and it sliced right through it. I also used it on a cinder block, as I was installing a fence extender on a cinder block wall. It also has a 40 grit surface on the side of the disc for grinding. Best of all, it has a lifetime warranty.
Reliable Automotive Equipment
My next item is a specialty center punch for self-piercing rivets (SPRs).
Some manufacturers use a forming die that leaves the backside of the rivet flat, with no center dimple. When using an extractor die set like this one, it is extremely important to center the point of the extractor die in the middle of the backside SPR. If it is not centered, there is a good chance of breaking the die, and they are not cheap.
A center punch tool was designed to remove SPRs. One end fits over a 3 mm installed SPR and the other end fits over a 5 mm rivet. The hardened spike is hammered on the end, forming a dimple in the backside of the SPR. Now the extraction tool spike is placed over the rivet and pushed out the front. I purchased mine from Reliable Automotive Equipment.
Majestic Hammer & Dollies
Next, a tool every technician should have in their tool box: a leather lead-shot dolly. When hammering from the back side of the part, this dead blow, non-marring dolly will not leave any of the panel damage you would get with a traditional steel dolly. This one is made by Majestic Hammer & Dollies, and I purchased mine from online retailer Tool Source for less than $70.
KECO
It is amazing how one company changed the way we repair major panel damage. I was with Dale Matsumoto in Hawaii in 2018 when he told me about KECO. He said he could pull out large dents with glue. I thought he was crazy until I watched him use the glue tab system to pull out a large dent on a Toyota Tacoma without removing the paint.
I was at SEMA in 2018 and found Chris White, owner of KECO, in a small booth in the middle of nowhere. I bought the kit -- I still have it -- and proceeded to make it a Kool Tools of SEMA 2018 after using it on a number of vehicles. Six years later, a couple of OEM certification programs state that a glue dent pulling system equivalent to KECO’s is required.
In my opinion, there a number of very good glue dent pulling systems, but KECO is at the top today and here is what sets them apart. KECO has three fulltime engineers designing and producing new equipment, tools and tabs. The company will do extensive testing before releasing the products. They give a lifetime warranty on most of their tabs.
Finally, they listen. They have a tool that will pull out door, fender and quarter panel lips. I pulled out a quarter panel with the leverage bar and proceeded to bend the steel part of the puller. I welded a spline on it and it worked OK, but I told the company it needed to be stronger and have a larger lip. I received the updated version and it still would bend. Again I told Chris White, and he sent this one to me to try:
It worked like a charm.
Enough of the background info. I want to show a couple of new KECO tools.
The first tool is the GPR Star Vortex Cooler.
The biggest complaint I get from techs is it takes too much time for the glue to set up for pulling. This tool will accelerate the glue set-up time to about two minutes. It has a magnet attachment so it can be set up without anyone holding it. It only works for steel parts. The only caution is the glue can get too cold and fracture, which leads to a tab failure.
The other tool is the KECO K-Tower.
There are a number of these new towers that use air to create a vacuum seal to hold the tower in place for pulling. You have the GUNIWHEEL Fast Puller XL, GYS’s AirFix Draw Aligner, Pro Spot International’s Vac-U-Pull, Spanesi and KECO.
I have tried all of the above towers, and each work as advertised. What set apart KECO from the rest is its tower articulates to the left and right, whereas the other units are secured to the base and cannot be moved once the tower arm is tightened down. The articulating tower gives the tech a more precise pull that is faster than the stationary towers. It also has a larger base, and I was told this allows for a stronger pull. KECO has a number of accessories that give the unit more versatility.
There are a number of new tools and products that will help you speed up production and improve the quality of collision repairs. If you have ideas, procedures or tools that will make a difference, send them to me and I will get it out to all the readers of Autobody News. Remember we are all in the same boat and if we can help each other, the consumer will be the winner. Have a great time at SEMA.
Toby Chess can be reached at tcspeedster@gmail.com.
