| Welding was a focus at the recent CARSTAR event, as upgrading welding equipment is often necessary for a shop that plans to work on aluminum vehicles. |
Hamilton, Ontario — June 23, 2014 — The use of aluminum in mass-market vehicles is becoming more widespread, and training for how to repair those vehicles is paramount. CARSTAR recently held an Aluminum Information Event at CARSTAR Vision Park in Hamilton, Ont. The session was attended by more than 50 CARSTAR owners, technicians, and insurance and vendor partners. The event focused on the impact that aluminum based vehicles will have on the collision repair industry, beginning with the release of the 2015 Ford F-150 later this year.
Bill Davidge, CARSTAR’s National Technical Manager, began the session with an overview of the changes that are coming and the investment in equipment and training that stores will need to make to equip themselves to repair aluminum based vehicles. Following Davidge, representatives from Chief, Eurovac and Pro Spot spoke about Ford certified equipment they can provide to assist stores in equipping themselves to make these repairs.
The group then made their way into CARSTAR’s Technical Training centre, where the vendors provided demonstrations of the equipment, and allowed technicians to try the products out. Welding equipment was a focus due to the need for upgrading of equipment to meet today’s requirements which includes aluminum and silicon bronze welding.
