Kijana Noel, owner and operations manager of G&B Collision Center in Brooklyn, NY, is carrying on a long family tradition in the automotive repair industry.
Noel’s grandfather opened a shop in Grenada more than 60 years ago. All five of his children grew up to work in the industry, either on the mechanical or auto body side.
One of his sons---Noel’s uncle---and a friend started working on friends’ and family’s cars in Brooklyn, NY, out of a two-car garage behind a house in the early ‘90s, on evenings and weekends. Buzz grew by word of mouth, and eventually his uncle felt he had enough steady work to move the operation into a 5,000-square-foot facility in 1998.
G&B Collision Center
Brooklyn, NY
718-230-9793
gbcollisioncenter.com
Facebook: @GandBCollisionCenter
Twitter: @GB_Collision
Instagram: @gb.collision
Company At A Glance...
Type: Collision Repair
Facility Employees: 12
In Business Since: 1998
Number of Locations: One
Production Space: 8,000 square feet
“The climb was slow, but we got rolling,” Noel said.
Meanwhile, after high school, Noel attended the diesel mechanic program at Ohio Technical College, then came back to New York to work for his uncle, joining the team in 1999. He is now a co-owner of the shop and oversees operations.
“It’s kind of a family trade,” Noel said.
Today, G&B Collision Center has grown into an 8,000-square-foot space. The I-CAR Gold Class facility repairs about 90 vehicles per month, offering heavy collision repair, minor dent repair, paintless dent removal, wheel repair and car lease return pre-inspection services.
Noel said the family-run business has always kept an eye out for cutting-edge technology. “We love tools,” he said. “That’s another thing that’s ingrained in our DNA---we love new fascinating tools that make our job easier and cleaner.”
That’s why they purchased their first induction heating tools from Induction Innovations not long after the company started offering them. Founder and President Tom Gough developed the first Inductor Series model in 2000, inspired by his 28 years in collision repair, seeing the many time-consuming processes.
G&B Collision Center has been using a full-size Inductor Series model and a Mini-Ductor Venom for about two decades, Noel said, and the technicians all prefer them to open-flame torches when they need to remove any adhesive from metal, including sealers, under coatings, glass or tape, or heat up corroded or seized bolts.
“It would be hard to get them to go back to an oxy-acetylene torch,” Noel said, as the induction heating tools are safer, cleaner and more versatile.
Noel said he prefers the induction heat used by Induction Innovations because “anything can happen” when using an open flame.
Noel recalled seeing a car’s interior catch fire while a technician used a torch to heat up seam sealer underneath the car. Before anyone realized what was happening, the fire spread, burning 60% of the interior before it could be extinguished.
“That was enough for me, just seeing that,” Noel said. “You just have a lot more control with the inductor versus the open flame.”
Induction heat also does the job more cleanly.
“We use the Inductor Series when we’re changing panels and have to remove sealer, or under coating,” Noel said. “When we take off moldings attached with two-sided tape, it comes off a lot cleaner. We use it a lot day to day.”
According to Induction Innovations, the Inductor and Mini-Ductor both use high frequency magnetic fields to heat ferrous metals without the collateral damage to nearby plastic parts torches can cause.
Noel said the Mini-Ductor Venom is great for gaining access to smaller, tighter spaces the full-size model can’t reach. Using one of the included coils that can flex around corners a flame cannot, the Mini-Ductor heats a 3/4” nut red hot in seconds.
Induction Innovations also notes using their tools can save shops money by allowing them to re-use some parts that might otherwise be discarded and save on consumables.
G&B Collision Center purchases its Induction Innovations tools from Collision Equipment Consulting, Inc., Noel said, and is very happy with the support it receives from owner Ted Dinnela.
“We’ve only had one issue ever, with the Venom. It was under warranty and we got a new one. The service has been so far, so good,” Noel said.
He said the Induction Innovations tools are also easy to use and don’t require any extensive training.
“The techs love it,” Noel said. “You can do a lot with it. Once they get the hang of it, they prefer it.”
Of all the advantages the G&B Collision Center team enjoys using Induction Innovations tools, the safety is the biggest one.
“This industry can be very dangerous, and anything that makes it safer is definitely a plus,” Noel said.
Induction Innovations
877-688-9633
www.theinductor.com
Facebook: @InductionInnovations
Twitter: @invisibleheat
Instagram: @induction_innovations
LinkedIn: @Induction Innovations, Inc.
YouTube: @Invisible Heat by Induction Innovations
To read more auto body shop profiles in the October 2023 Shop and Product Showcase, click here.
