Body collision/painting schools/courses

**bishoppac8** · 06-24-2008, 02:13 AM

Hey guys, one last thing... ive asked a few of you guys on here before but never gotten a great response. I love prepping cars..painting.. etc. I would love to do it as a career. My one question is what kind of schools in the area offer these courses? I am in the Tarpon springs area. I know i could always go to a body shop and start off at the bottom and work my way up, but i make pretty decent money as it is and i cant quit my job for 10 bucks an hour. I would appreciate any response or recommendations to my question..

Thanks guys.

Hellfire_Studios · 06-24-2008, 09:43 AM

Me and a few others on here have attended the HCC auto collision school. There is also PTEC in st. pete.It was a good starting point. But I hate to brake it to you, you will still have to start at the bottom. Most schools give you enough to get your foot in the door. I left a career making pretty good money and had to eat shit the first year or so but now I make really good money. so its all up to what you are willing to sacrifice for it. But I love what I do. To me it was well worth it. Even in the 100 degree heat

Josh

**bishoppac8** · 06-24-2008, 05:51 PM

^ well i guess its better to start at the bottom with some courses under your belt and a better knowledge then to have nothing. i looked for courses at hcc and the only place they offer it is ybor (yuck)

Hellfire_Studios · 06-24-2008, 07:19 PM

it says ybor campus but its actually off campus at there shop.

MikeDillard07 · 06-24-2008, 08:14 PM

i wanna do it to more info please! any apprentice ships around?

killerMikeD · 06-24-2008, 10:32 PM

sigh... more poor souls for the insurance companys to rip a new asshole.

Hellfire_Studios · 06-24-2008, 10:45 PM

Yeah you can do the apprentice gimmick through the school or you can get it going your self. I might be taking in a helper in the next few months at my shop...just dont know when. I would start the school and than go from there.

josh

**bishoppac8** · 06-24-2008, 11:18 PM

thanks a lot josh, youve been very helpful

killerMikeD · 06-25-2008, 12:05 AM

Hire me joshy woshy

importguy1208 · 06-25-2008, 08:06 AM

Well I started at the bottom with no school experience. In my opinion it was worth it. Of course this needs to be taken with a grain of salt because I started working with a guy that ran a small custom shop and could afford to show me what I needed to know and how to do it right.

While I was working with him he had other guys come in straight out of school and they didn't have clue what they were doing. They were so used to having a teacher hand them everything they needed to do a job that they couldn't do anything on there own.

I remember this one guy in particular had done THREE years worth of school, all frame machine certified and yada yada yada. We had a car in primer that needed blocked so my boss hands him a block with 80 grit on it and tells him to use that particular block to knock the primer down. The guy just walks over to the car and starts sanding on it with the 80 grit. My boss came unglued when he found out and the "Schooled" body man didn't even know why.

Basically what it boils down to is that if you have some common sense and can figure stuff out on your own, you can go either way. If you are looking to move up in a shop and spend some time there then I would highly recommend going to school simply for the certifications.

If you just want to learn the trade and want to be able to work on your own stuff and the occasional friends then I would say go straight for a job as a body man's helper or what not.

**bishoppac8** · 06-25-2008, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by importguy1208

Basically what it boils down to is that if you have some common sense and can figure stuff out on your own, you can go either way. If you are looking to move up in a shop and spend some time there then I would highly recommend going to school simply for the certifications.

If you just want to learn the trade and want to be able to work on your own stuff and the occasional friends then I would say go straight for a job as a body man's helper or what not.

id like to do it as a career. ive already done a few jobs here and there and i love doing it. thanks for your advice man i appreciate it!

killerMikeD · 06-25-2008, 06:44 PM

no matter what schools u take they are going to start you at the bottom, making 8-12 bucks an hour, and you can be a helper.

any other way you will loose your ass, and dont forget you will have to buy ALL of your own tools, be it sanders, paint guns, blocks, I do Collision repair and do the body work side and have spent an easy 30k in tools. It will be about 5 years before you can even work on you own, full time and make any decent money, Then after that you get to spend your days fighting the people in the office and the insurance people to get paid for all the work you do to the car, being as how the majority are not paid hourly or salary but per job. And no one in the office or insurance or customers gives a rats ass if you got paid or not.

I hate to put it like this all grim and bleek but i wish that some one would have told ME, but all i was told was, Oh you make great money, work on cool cars, Fix them and be proud, make 100 hours a week, make 80k a year, 90% of that is BS 50 % of the time!

Hellfire_Studios · 06-25-2008, 07:08 PM

Mike you are so up beat.

**bishoppac8** · 06-25-2008, 07:10 PM

^ as far as tools go, i have a bunch already, i have 2 guns, a few sanders a bunch of blocks body hammers bla bla bla... but with that being said i already know that im gonna need a whole lot more and yeah i wasnt looking forward to that part - but with the rest of what you said, im glad you put it out there, anything anyone has to say about this line of work say it now cause id love to hear everyones opinion on it. im trying to attain as much knowledge as possible

Hellfire_Studios · 06-25-2008, 07:16 PM

Mike is right about alot of things he said. He is probably the most out spoken person I have ever worked with about how much each job gets on it. Most guys will just look at the total amount of hours for the job and either be ok with it or not. Mike will go through the whole estimate line by line and figure out where he is getting screwed. I wish I could do it more than I do.

And he is also right about the office people thing. Most of them do not give a crap about you.

Now with that said from my stand point. A technician that owns his own shop full time, If you have to do it all, office side, body and paint side (hell I even do the clean up kids job), some times I miss working in a regular body shop where all I have to worry about are my estimates to make sure I am getting what I need on each job and painting cars. I guess some times you could use that "grass is always greener" saying.

Josh

06-24-2008, 02:13 AM	#1 (permalink)
bishoppac8 Troll extraordinaire Car: two 88 CRX's + 98 deville My TRGarage tarpon springs : 2147483647	Body collision/painting schools/courses Hey guys, one last thing... ive asked a few of you guys on here before but never gotten a great response. I love prepping cars..painting.. etc. I would love to do it as a career. My one question is what kind of schools in the area offer these courses? I am in the Tarpon springs area. I know i could always go to a body shop and start off at the bottom and work my way up, but i make pretty decent money as it is and i cant quit my job for 10 bucks an hour. I would appreciate any response or recommendations to my question.. Thanks guys.

06-25-2008, 06:44 PM	#12 (permalink)
killerMikeD Lethal Fabrication Car: S10 Hardbody 64 caddy 41 chevy My TRGarage Brandon : 119260933	no matter what schools u take they are going to start you at the bottom, making 8-12 bucks an hour, and you can be a helper. any other way you will loose your ass, and dont forget you will have to buy ALL of your own tools, be it sanders, paint guns, blocks, I do Collision repair and do the body work side and have spent an easy 30k in tools. It will be about 5 years before you can even work on you own, full time and make any decent money, Then after that you get to spend your days fighting the people in the office and the insurance people to get paid for all the work you do to the car, being as how the majority are not paid hourly or salary but per job. And no one in the office or insurance or customers gives a rats ass if you got paid or not. I hate to put it like this all grim and bleek but i wish that some one would have told ME, but all i was told was, Oh you make great money, work on cool cars, Fix them and be proud, make 100 hours a week, make 80k a year, 90% of that is BS 50 % of the time! Last edited by killerMikeD : 06-25-2008 at 06:51 PM.

06-24-2008, 09:43 AM	#2 (permalink)
Hellfire_Studios Registered User Car: My TRGarage : 64795999	Me and a few others on here have attended the HCC auto collision school. There is also PTEC in st. pete.It was a good starting point. But I hate to brake it to you, you will still have to start at the bottom. Most schools give you enough to get your foot in the door. I left a career making pretty good money and had to eat shit the first year or so but now I make really good money. so its all up to what you are willing to sacrifice for it. But I love what I do. To me it was well worth it. Even in the 100 degree heat Josh

06-24-2008, 05:51 PM	#3 (permalink)
bishoppac8 Troll extraordinaire Car: two 88 CRX's + 98 deville My TRGarage tarpon springs : 2147483647	^ well i guess its better to start at the bottom with some courses under your belt and a better knowledge then to have nothing. i looked for courses at hcc and the only place they offer it is ybor (yuck)

06-24-2008, 07:19 PM	#4 (permalink)
Hellfire_Studios Registered User Car: My TRGarage : 64795999	it says ybor campus but its actually off campus at there shop.

06-24-2008, 08:14 PM	#5 (permalink)
MikeDillard07 Beef Tits Car: Ef sedan My TRGarage Florida : 64236061	i wanna do it to more info please! any apprentice ships around?

06-24-2008, 10:32 PM	#6 (permalink)
killerMikeD Lethal Fabrication Car: S10 Hardbody 64 caddy 41 chevy My TRGarage Brandon : 119260933	sigh... more poor souls for the insurance companys to rip a new asshole.

06-24-2008, 10:45 PM	#7 (permalink)
Hellfire_Studios Registered User Car: My TRGarage : 64795999	Yeah you can do the apprentice gimmick through the school or you can get it going your self. I might be taking in a helper in the next few months at my shop...just dont know when. I would start the school and than go from there. josh

06-24-2008, 11:18 PM	#8 (permalink)
bishoppac8 Troll extraordinaire Car: two 88 CRX's + 98 deville My TRGarage tarpon springs : 2147483647	thanks a lot josh, youve been very helpful

06-25-2008, 12:05 AM	#9 (permalink)
killerMikeD Lethal Fabrication Car: S10 Hardbody 64 caddy 41 chevy My TRGarage Brandon : 119260933	Hire me joshy woshy

06-25-2008, 08:06 AM	#10 (permalink)
importguy1208 Wide Open and Sideways! Car: My TRGarage Central Florida : 590441566	Well I started at the bottom with no school experience. In my opinion it was worth it. Of course this needs to be taken with a grain of salt because I started working with a guy that ran a small custom shop and could afford to show me what I needed to know and how to do it right. While I was working with him he had other guys come in straight out of school and they didn't have clue what they were doing. They were so used to having a teacher hand them everything they needed to do a job that they couldn't do anything on there own. I remember this one guy in particular had done THREE years worth of school, all frame machine certified and yada yada yada. We had a car in primer that needed blocked so my boss hands him a block with 80 grit on it and tells him to use that particular block to knock the primer down. The guy just walks over to the car and starts sanding on it with the 80 grit. My boss came unglued when he found out and the "Schooled" body man didn't even know why. Basically what it boils down to is that if you have some common sense and can figure stuff out on your own, you can go either way. If you are looking to move up in a shop and spend some time there then I would highly recommend going to school simply for the certifications. If you just want to learn the trade and want to be able to work on your own stuff and the occasional friends then I would say go straight for a job as a body man's helper or what not.

06-25-2008, 07:08 PM	#13 (permalink)
Hellfire_Studios Registered User Car: My TRGarage : 64795999	Mike you are so up beat.

06-25-2008, 07:10 PM	#14 (permalink)
bishoppac8 Troll extraordinaire Car: two 88 CRX's + 98 deville My TRGarage tarpon springs : 2147483647	^ as far as tools go, i have a bunch already, i have 2 guns, a few sanders a bunch of blocks body hammers bla bla bla... but with that being said i already know that im gonna need a whole lot more and yeah i wasnt looking forward to that part - but with the rest of what you said, im glad you put it out there, anything anyone has to say about this line of work say it now cause id love to hear everyones opinion on it. im trying to attain as much knowledge as possible

06-25-2008, 07:16 PM	#15 (permalink)
Hellfire_Studios Registered User Car: My TRGarage : 64795999	Mike is right about alot of things he said. He is probably the most out spoken person I have ever worked with about how much each job gets on it. Most guys will just look at the total amount of hours for the job and either be ok with it or not. Mike will go through the whole estimate line by line and figure out where he is getting screwed. I wish I could do it more than I do. And he is also right about the office people thing. Most of them do not give a crap about you. Now with that said from my stand point. A technician that owns his own shop full time, If you have to do it all, office side, body and paint side (hell I even do the clean up kids job), some times I miss working in a regular body shop where all I have to worry about are my estimates to make sure I am getting what I need on each job and painting cars. I guess some times you could use that "grass is always greener" saying. Josh