Canberra Bodyworks
To a bodyshop owner there is nothing more important than successful, quality service, vehicle throughput and strategic equipment purchases to make a shop efficient and economically sound.
Canberra Bodyworks’ (CB) Daren and Cherie Jones are now the proud owners of the 1300 square metre shop, set on a total area of 3450 square metres in Queanbeyan. Jones is the man on the spot managing day to day activities.
The shop has only been in existence for a year and already it occupies a building which is the largest that local regulations will allow. By Easter last year the building was well underway but finances were always going to be an issue unless some drastic decisions were made.
That issue was solved when Jones decided he had to make a very big sacrifice. His l970 Mach1 Mustang had to go. He hated to part with the orange fastback but he knew its value as he had treasured, restored and taken care of it.
It realised enough money to bridge a financial gap and went straight back into the business. The photo of the rare American classic still hangs on his wall but now he has switched his allegiance to a new classic Ford that will also be lovingly restored. The range of model Fords and other cars adorns his office display cabinets paying tribute to his love of classic Australian and foreign brands.
With a turnover of 25-30 cars a week, the shop is busy, drawing much of its business from nearby ACT and its public servants.
Local owners also frequent the premises, but Jones is mostly responsible for prestige cars with the vehicle repair bills averaging $3300 per car.
The shop is well equipped, clean and obviously established with a long-term future in mind. Extensive water tanks are now full and service all the shop’s needs. Two tanks are served by the shop’s extensive roof area and a rain storm will fill the tanks very rapidly.
But the shop’s equipment pride and joy is it’s IRT Infra-Red Arch, a surround heat system that runs out of the Saima Italian spray booth, to quickly complete the drying process.
“We can cook the full front of a white Falcon in seven to eight minutes and once it is dried it has been exposed to heat of between 100-135 degrees. That is as hard as you can get. In the sunlight it can’t shrink,” Jones said.
Standing in front of this rare piece of bodyshop equipment with the panels of heat tubes glaring it looks like something out of Star Wars, but there is no doubt this is the cutting edge of drying and spray painting technology. Jones estimates there are only about a dozen of them in the country, many of which are in Queensland.
From a judging point of view, the IRT is not cheap and perhaps, at first glance, a bit of a gamble but it has worked. With just the one booth, much of the drying is done in front of the banks of IRT panels and throughput relies on it. Traffic without it could jam-up if drying times increased.
The Glasurit paint benefits from the procedure but every time a car is painted it is important to achieve the same amount of application.
“You have to be careful otherwise the solvent can boil,” Jones says.
The shop itself is well equipped. There is a lift to the mezzanine where the spares are stored and there are five Atlas mini benches and two Car-O-Liner Mark 4’s. Jones says that one of his panel beaters has used a Car-O-Liner 5000 and wants that for the shop as well. The welding gear includes a FAN Inverta spot welder, a GYS Inverta spot welder, FAN bronze welders and a couple of MIGS that the business seldom uses now.
The shop has two painters and two apprentice painters - fourth and second year. They use DeVilbiss guns because they like the consistency. The bodyshop has five tradesmen panel beaters and one apprentice. When the estimator is overwhelmed with jobs Jones can take some of the load. The shop has a detailer and a receptionist who also does parts work.
On the day that AP&P visited AAMI insurance was inspecting a finished vehicle and seemed well satisfied with the results. Like the magazine’s inspection team, AAMI seemed to appreciate the paint finish and the professionalism of the work.
Powell’s view
Very few bodyshop owners make the sacrifices that the Joneses have made to own and equip their own bodyshop. But they have a plan and sold just about everything to invest in the business. Even the infra-red arc shows they have decided that only the best will do for Canberra Bodyworks and their customers. Here’s to their future success.