The finishing touch to any motor vehicle, is a nicely polished coat of paint.

For some of our staff, this means that their meticulous and painstaking fabrication and welding work will have come to an end, and that their contribution will soon be hidden forever.

It's now down to our Panel Beaters and Paint Spraying specialists to demonstrate their craftmanship, and the key to success... thorough preparation!

Hours of rubbing down, filling and inspecting – clean the surface - application of a primer coat.

Bake in the Oven.

Hours of rubbing down, filling and inspecting – clean the surface - application of a base coat.

Bake in the Oven.

More rubbing down and inspecting – clean the surface - application of a clear coat.

Bake in the Oven.

More rubbing down and inspecting – clean the surface – time for polishing.

If the job is just is a small part-respray, the job may be finished. However, if the job was a full restoration, then there is much more to do i.e. all the mechanical parts; all of the interior fittings; the lights; the glass; and all of the external fittings, will need to be carefully re-installed.

After all this work has been completed and the test drives are done, the car will be dirty, so it will be time for another good clean and polish, and a final inspection.

And only then, is the job complete and ready for the customer to drive away.

Why bake a motor vehicle in an oven?

Above: Whilst a car is being baked at an optimum temperature, water or solvent gently evaporates leaving the paint molecules to correctly form, bond, and harden, into a beautiful and protective coating.

At Trickett Autoworks we use a combination Spray Booth / Low Bake Oven.

This is a large enclosed unit with very powerful extractor fans and particle filters, specifically designed to decontaminate the air prior to the application of paint.

The oven serves two main purposes: -

1) to ensure that the vehicles bodywork is at an ideal and even working temperature to receive the paint.

2), to slowly bake the paint at an optimum temperature to ensure a perfectly dried and/or cured finish.

Obviously, this type of equipment was a significant financial investment, but we believe that the benefits have achieved an invaluable contribution towards our primary goal i.e. to offer the highest quality professional service to our customers.

For examples of completed work, please look at our galleries.

Note: If you read some online forums, there are quite a few people who think that professionals "bake the paint" just to speed up the drying, thereby saving time and money.

However, had they read the science (rather than stating an ill-informed opinion), they would have discovered that time-saving is just a very welcome side-effect of a far superior paint application, drying and/or curing, process.