Moppert Brothers Collision Services Group is a third-generation family-run business that has been serving southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey for nearly half a century, now managed by Harry Moppert Sr. and his sons, Harry Jr. and Douglas. Their team of skilled technicians can handle everything from a small paint chip to a major collision repair.
Harry Sr. said when the company built its location in Northfield, NJ, just outside Atlantic City, they wanted the 17,000-square-foot building to be a first-class operation, like the rest of their locations.
Moppert Brothers Collision Services Group
Morton, PA
610-544-4444
www.moppertbros.com
Facebook: @MoppertBrothers
Company At A Glance...
Type: Collision Repair
Facility Employees: 47
In Business Since: 1976
Number of Locations: Three
Combined Production Space: 42,000 square feet
“We really did a lot of work to make sure it was state-of-the-art in every way possible,” Harry Sr. said.
The team reviewed the spray booths already installed in their other facilities, made by five different manufacturers.
Moppert Brothers purchased two booths and a paint mixing room from USI Italia for its Northfield location.
“Some had good qualities, some had bad, some worked well, some lasted longer,” Harry Sr. said. “When we looked at [the USI Italia] booth, we saw instantly the quality with which it was made and all the new features. There’s a lot of good stuff here. It was an easy decision for us to purchase those booths.”
Moppert Brothers purchased two booths and a paint mixing room from USI Italia for its Northfield location. Harry Sr. praised the features on the USI Italia booth that make it a snap to work with newer waterborne paint systems.
“The panel itself has so many features for waterborne paints with the new technology,” Harry Sr. said. “There’s a masking mode, spray mode, dry mode for waterborne, bake mode, all incorporated into running the booth and spraying a car. Other booths we had in the past didn’t have any of those features.”
The booth’s variable speed drive automatically changes the speed of the motors for different modes, ensuring the airflow is optimum for every step of the process, increasing efficiency and minimizing energy costs to run it.
It also saves money because it has features for drying, meaning Moppert Brothers did not have to purchase additional equipment for that step.
“These are features I’d never seen built into a booth,” Harry Sr. said.
The shop’s two booths are connected to the paint mixing room, so everything is contained. “It’s fantastic as well,” Harry Sr. said.
As for the finish produced by the USI Italia system, Harry Sr. is consistently impressed by that too.
“I’ll say it in one word — absolutely amazing. OK, that’s two words,” he said with a laugh.
“The finish is perfect; [the booth] duplicates exactly factory textures, so the appearance of the film looks exactly like it should,” Harry Sr. said. “I’m very pleased with it.
“You can do high production work, custom work, whatever you choose,” he added. “It has the versatility to do whatever you’re looking to do.”
Harry Sr. said the Northfield location was built with Mercedes-Benz clients in mind. Moppert Brothers has Mercedes-Benz and Tesla certifications at its other locations, and is working on completing both, as well as its BMW certification, at the Northfield location. It also holds a Honda and Acura certification.
The Northfield location’s 17,000-square-foot building houses a first-class operation.
“We do have an upper end customer base so to speak, and the vehicles to go with that, but our intention is to be able to paint higher end cars as well as regular cars,” he said.
Moppert Brothers worked with Centerline Collision Equipment, a USI Italia distributor.
“They did a fantastic job with the presentation and working with us to lay it out at the shop,” Harry Sr. said. “They were the best vendor we’ve ever used for purchasing a spray booth.”
Centerline also provided the training for Moppert Brothers’ painters, showing them how to operate the booth to produce the best results.
“We had two painters, and they argued over who was going to get to paint the next car in the booth,” Harry Sr. said. “The painters love it.”
Moppert Brothers was so pleased with its USI Italia system, it purchased a booth for its original shop. Centerline was able to custom build the cabin to fit in the location of the shop’s previous booth, allowing it to fit “like a glove” around existing columns and poles.
“We just recently completed installation, and it’s a night and day difference over the booths that were in there before,” Harry Sr. said.
Moppert Brothers is also planning to add a second USI Italia booth to one of its locations, and is building a 7,000-square-foot addition at yet another location so it can install a USI Italia booth there as well. In the end, it will have a total of five USI Italia booths at three locations.
“In the past two weeks, we did 52 cars in one [USI Italia] booth,” Harry Sr. said. “It was an excellent choice.”
USI of North America
201-405-7760
Company Contact: Stefano Moretto
s.moretto@usius.com
www.usius.com
Facebook: @USI-of-North-America
Instagram: @usiitalia
To read more auto body shop profiles in the June 2024 Shop and Product Showcase, click here.
