Advice & insight please

[Islander customs]

Hello, I'd like to start by saying I'm very excited to find this forum!

I just read the post from Tyler in Cali, You all were great help to him! Hope all is going well for you Tyler.

After reading Tyler's post, I thought I had better give you all some info on were I am located & what I am wanting to do.

I am 34 , married with two children, currently working in a local factory as a maintenance tech. I make a good living, but I am sick & tired of working for the man!I live in West central Indiana, about 40 miles from Indianapolis. I have been watching the mobile repair industry for years now, and it's time to do something!

My plan is to start small, part time. I want to be very confident in my work before I go out, and offer my services. To start with I will be offering paint repair - key scratches , chips, bumper scuffs, etc. along with some detailing, and glass repair. I had initially decided to go with Paint Bull for everything. After my wife & I visted their facility, I have different opinions.
However I do believe the paint system they offer is second to none!
As far as glass repair goes...I'm lost!!! there are so many systems out there!!
I have been watching E-bay as well, and they have some very good deals, but if I do not buy the system from the OEM will they offer me support, or sell me resin? Do I have to use Their resin with their system? Do I need seperate systems for chips & cracks? How long of a crack can I repair the list goes on & on. Any insight & advice will surely be appriciated.

Thanks in advance for heading me in right direction

Travis Davis
Islander Customs

[screenman]

Travis welcome to the forum.

First could I suggest you talk to Delta kits on the phone they are very easy and will give you no pressure. Secondly why paint repair next to detailing it is the most time consuming part of smart repairalso check your county regs for spraying etc. outside. If you do decide to carry on with paint consult with your local autobody supply shop you know the ones that supply the paint shops. They will sell you a paint kit and you can source things like spray gun, compressor etc. for way less than going to the likes of Paintbull. Have you considered PDR check out http://www.doording.com. If you work at is there is more than enough work with just windshield repair.

[Delta Kits]

Welcome to the forum Travis!

There are plenty of people around that are (or have been), in the same position you are. So feel free to ask for help with anything.

Ebay...Currently, we're getting close to recommending against it. Up until a couple months ago, customers who found kits on Ebay were typically happy with their purchases. Now though, we've gotten calls from people who bought kits that had essential items missing, broken pieces, contaminated resins, and things sold as DKI equipment that weren't.

So, at least for us, we currently are offering support for products purchased there. That's subject to change at any point though, since we're starting to get fake equipment sold as DKI. There are still some good deals to be had, but with everyone using "stock" pictures, I can't even tell which are good and which are bad.

Buying resin shouldn't be a problem. I don't think any major manufacturer will require that you have their system to purchase resin. With ours, no separate system for chips & cracks, although a few do require it.

Let me know if I can help further!

[bill4117]

hey travis welcome to the forum

let me start by telling you that ebay can be hit or miss if you don't know what to look for (jeff higgins helped me a great deal in this reguard). i personally have a delta kit and i couldn't be happier. i also found delta to be second to non with customer service and tech support. (hell how many companies allow open discussion about their competitors products in the forum??? that's what drew me to delta to begin with). look through the archived forums for all kinds of info and pay attention to the senior members in the forum there is some incredible advice to be had here that you won't find in a book. also make sure to contact delta directly, they can definately put you on the right track.

[GlassStarz]

Dude
If you intend to start part time pick one thing and perfect it before adding another myself I started with WR and after a couple years and a established client base added touch up to my offering. I looked at the Bull system but chose another. the last thing anyone wants is to become a mobile body shop i bought a system that lets me fix 80% or more of chips and scratched without owning a spraygunat 100$-125$ per car I do 5-6 a day working a 6 hr day. Find something no one else in your area is offering and go with that for me it was the premier paint 2000system but go with whatever works for you. But i would definatly pick one thing first the old saying "Jack Of All Trades Master Of None" applys here