The labor time allowances given in Hours in the paint section include time for cleaning, preparing, finishing, as well as any hardware removal (door handles, moldings, trim pieces, etc.) considered necessary to ensure a quality repair of the particular area involved. The letters below each Labor Time is the Material Indicator. This indicator represents the amount of mixed paint reduced to spraying consistency as well as additional supplies needed such as sandpaper, masking tape, paper, filler surfacer, etc. needed for each paint operation.

Clear coat times and material allowances are now included in the base times where applicable.

Note: These definitions can also apply to lacquer and enamel finishes that do not use a clear coat if you simply ignore the references to clear coat.

(formerly Color Coat) provides time and material allowance to correct the following types of problems: thin or mottled paint, off color, rub through, shallow scratches, dirt, etc. that do not respond to Finesse sand and buff. These types of repairs include the mechanical removal of the clear and or base color from as much as 50% of the panel surface area, but do not require disturbing the factory primer. While it is still appropriate to make spot repairs and color blending repairs in an open panel, blending of the clear coat in an open panel is not acceptable because of quality and long term durability concerns. Therefore, when you do a Base/Clear Coat repair, clear coat is to be applied out to the next break point (body side molding, feature line, next panel, etc.) that occurs in the panel.

Note: In unusual cases where it is necessary to remove the clearcoat and basecoat FROM MORE THAN 50% OF THE PANEL AREA, extra time is required. In such cases, it is appropriate to select the REFINISH/CLEARCOAT operation instead of the COLOR/CLEARCOAT Operation, even though the primer has not been disturbed.

(formerly Paint Refinish), addresses those repairs that result in removing some of the factory prime so that the substrate (i.e. bare metal) is exposed. Refinish/Clear Coat operations include time and material necessary to properly remove, clean, restore, and seal the primer for up to 50% of the panel's surface, and to complete the repair with base color and clear coat as required over the entire panel.

Is described as removing the finish (color/clear, or primer) from more than 50% of the panel area. IT DOES NOT MEAN REMOVE ALL FINISH TO SUBSTRATE (i.e. BARE METAL). Stripping is only necessary in unusual cases. As a good general rule, you should avoid removing factory primer coats; therefore, do not use chemical removers. Any chemicals that remove the base color and clear coats will attack the primer and some non-metal body parts. The appropriate method of stripping is to machine sand or plastic media blast to remove excessive amounts of factory primer. In these unusual cases where it is necessary to strip the panel, it is appropriate to charge more than REFINISH TIME. The additional labor (normally 25% to 40% of the refinish time allowance) should be added to the warranty claim in other labor hours and any additional materials should be added to the net amount column. Naturally these additional charges require appropriate authorization.

In the event that a paint repair operation on one panel requires tinting and blending the color to the adjacent panels to achieve an acceptable color match, the color/clear coat operation number, time and material allowance for the additional panels should be submitted with an approval code.

Is a process of sanding and polishing which removes dirt nibs, sags, scratches, swirl marks, and other minor (small) imperfections.

Is a process that requires the finesse sanding of the entire panel (horizontal surfaces only) to remove the deteriorated finish followed by a polishing operation to restore the gloss.

When it is required to paint both sides and/or edges of a panel, up to an additional 25% can be added to the paint refinish time and material allowance.