Automotive Collision Repair & Refinishing
Our Automotive Collision Repair & Refinishing program provides a detail-minded student with the technical knowledge and skills, character, and work ethic necessary to begin a rewarding career in this fast-paced, high-tech industry. The dynamic and challenging curriculum provides students an excellent opportunity to work on both “live” and training vehicles with cosmetic and severe structural damage. In the process, students hone their skills in welding, cutting, surface preparation, painting, refinishing, plastic repair, abrasives, solvents, and estimation. The curriculum also includes a basic introduction to automotive mechanical and electrical systems. Our state-of-the-art virtual painting program allows students to practice painting and refinishing techniques in an eco-friendly learning environment. Graduates are eligible for one year of credit toward the two-year work requirement necessary for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) collision repair technician certification.
Skills you will learn:
• Damage analysis
• Welding and cutting
• Plastic repair
• Painting and refinishing
• Structural and non-structural repair
• Mechanical and electrical introduction
• System diagnostics
• Cost projections and project management
Hands-on Projects
Frame Pulling: When you get hurt or sick and need care, you head to your doctor. When your car is involved in a crash and needs repairs, you head to your auto collision specialist—your car’s doctor. Our students diagnose the damage done to vehicles by securing, clamping, and measuring damaged areas. Through analysis of the mechanics, suspension, and electrical systems, our students discover each impacted area and repair the car by fitting new sheet metal before prepping and painting the vehicle. Your car leaves our shop healthy, happy, and as good as new!
Estimating Collision Repairs: Business skills are just as crucial to the successful operation of a collision repair center as the technical skills required to complete the project. Our students learn to write estimates because the initial diagnosis, documentation, and discovery of unforeseen damage all have financial impacts on both the car owner and the technician. By writing estimates for community members’ vehicles, our students reinforce their knowledge of car models and parts, trade terminology, and the labor involved in a variety of collision projects. Their proper knowledge, coupled with their financial aptitude from creating invoices and ordering and inventorying parts, assure their success in the field.
College & Career Placement
• Business, Worcester State University
• Prep/Body Work, MHQ Truck Equipment
• Body Technician, Carstar Marlborough
• Prep and Painter, Bulldog Fire Apparatus
