In case you missed it in our Nov/Dec issue of the magazine.
John Nguyen of El Toro Smash Repair Centre has invested in international training to get the best out of his Car-O-Liner equipment.
El Toro Smash Repairs in Wetherill Park, Sydney specialises in complex repairs. Nguyen took over the business in 2018, having been the manager there. The former owner was looking to retire, and Nguyen took the plunge confident that as he had been running the business already that he could make a go of it.
The business aims to complete 20-plus cars a week with a team consisting of four in the paintshop, four in the panel shop, four fitters, three apprentices and three estimators including Nguyen, a parts manager and a customer service officer.
While the shop did some heavy hits under the previous regime, Nguyen has chosen to focus exclusively on these. As a dyed-in-the-wool body technician he and his team enjoy the challenge. “Anyone can do the lighter hits, not everyone can carry out complex repairs.”
To ensure that his team performs the safest and most accurate repairs, John Nguyen has been twice to Car-O-Liner’s training centre in Thailand, taking his senior body repair technician Daniel Micallef along with him. And there’s a third trip in the planning.
“The first time was a deep dive into structural repairs, the second time was riveting and bonding which more of the European cars demand,” he said.
Micallef says he got a lot out of both trips. “The first time we did a lot of using the EVO system. We had a Ford Ranger chassis to play around with and concentrated on absolute measuring for total accuracy – that was a great experience. Even if you only pick up a couple of small things they can really make a difference in your everyday work.
“Going over there and learning the measuring system in detail was a game changer for me. I’m more confident when I’m repairing cars. I don’t second guess myself because I’m sure of what I am doing and I know how to double check my work.
“When you’re working on heavy hits there are so many things that can go wrong if you make a mistake – the car won’t drive straight, it might leak for instance. If you are just a couple of millimetres out then the car might not calibrate.”
While Car-O-Liner has state-based trainers who will train customers in their workshops, Micallef and Nguyen say that being in the training centre environment is an altogether difference experience. “You can make a mistake and learn from it and it’s not on one of your customer’s cars.” Nguyen said.
“We had a four-wheel drive chassis and we heated the centre of it and bent the rear end – we twisted it and then realigned it. We don’t get the opportunity to fix something like that because it would be a write off, so that was a great experience,” Micallef said.
It’s not a cheap exercise – the first course was five days and the second was three days, plus that’s two productive people out of the business for that time. Nguyen says that the cost is irrelevant because you can’t put a price on peace of mind.
“I can sleep well at night because I know my team have the knowledge they need to get our customers’ cars safely back on the road.” ●
LEFT: From left John Nguyen and Daniel Micallef.