Alright I have a pretty simple question. I searched a bunch but can't really find what i am looking for. I'm looking for a tech school or college to do auto body. I'm not interested in taking math, world history classes etc, I'm just looking for something i can just jump into the class and learn hands on.

I'm located in the North East of Pennsylvania. I'm in Wilkes Barre, now I'm not asking to find me a school around here.. I'm just wondering for the ones who went to a tech school which one do they recommend?

It's weird because I am 17 now, I was raised around Auto Mechanics all my life, my grand father was a Ace1 Mechanic. Practically ran a shop out of his back yard. My father did some mechanics. My brother and I used to mess with smaller stuff when we were younger like lawn mowers. We used to build go-carts and race ride on lawnmowers when we were younger. I have been around the "Import scene" for a while. All my friends and brother's friends were into it all. We all had/still have some sort of import. Everyone's driveway had some sort of project going on. From motor swaps to body work. I never really took interest in it. I was suckered into computer's and gaming from my uncle. I really wanted to do stuff with computers, and never thought about cars because I was way to young to even drive. Until i moved to Wilkes Barre, PA from New Jersey. I got a job (pushing carts at a Walmart ) saving my money.. I just kept putting my money away and my brother suckered me into buying my first 1989 Honda CRX Si from an older gentlemen for 900$. It's in pretty good shape, the paint is faded, motor still runs strong. I have so many plans for it. Just the lack of money (being a cartboy making 7.80 an hour @ age of 17) and no driveway

Anyways sorry if i pissed anyone off by writing my whole life story. Just wanted to show how I am starting just like all of you did in some way.

I'll leave with a picture of my brother's crx, and my crx. Thanks for the input guys and the help with school recommendations.

The red CRX is mine, Black one is brother's.

Thanks again everyone, and all of you are inspirations to many young fellas like my self. I appreciate everything you guys do here.

 

Thanks for the move to Paint and Body, I'm off to work, going to check tonight for input, thanks all.

 

try a local community college.. you will not be dissapointed! at least here in texas they are great.. you can get certified or get an acutal degree for a a reasonable price

 

apply at a body shop for a job the smaller ones i found are better for learning.
you are going to be asked to wash cars and do crap work for a while, but it will pay off. if you show the body men and painters you are a hard worker, quick learner, and do a good job(not half as$ed) and dont hide mess ups form them (be honest)...they will teach you.....but remember they are there to make money... not necessarily there to teach so respect the opportunity...

i would like to have a kid like you under me i am always willing to teach the teachable..

don't waste your money at a school it will not affect your pay much...and you will still be at the bottom of the totem pole..

good luck and if you have any further questions PM me...

bill

 

^^^ Good post. I agree, thats how I learned. Experience in a demanding, quality shop is the best school. I didn't go to school but I have I-car, ASE, BASF certs.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by alltech_hybrid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">try a local community college.. you will not be dissapointed! at least here in texas they are great.. you can get certified or get an acutal degree for a a reasonable price </TD></TR></TABLE>I'll look into some thanks.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 88civic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">apply at a body shop for a job the smaller ones i found are better for learning.
you are going to be asked to wash cars and do crap work for a while, but it will pay off. if you show the body men and painters you are a hard worker, quick learner, and do a good job(not half as$ed) and dont hide mess ups form them (be honest)...they will teach you.....but remember they are there to make money... not necessarily there to teach so respect the opportunity...

i would like to have a kid like you under me i am always willing to teach the teachable..

don't waste your money at a school it will not affect your pay much...and you will still be at the bottom of the totem pole..

good luck and if you have any further questions PM me...

bill
</TD></TR></TABLE>Damn Bill to bad you don't leave near here, I'm going to go around in a few weeks to see what the local auto body shops are up too. I am kind of new to the area so schooling would be the best option right now, but will DEFFinitly look into local shops, thanks a lot man.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by powerflow &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">^^^ Good post. I agree, thats how I learned. Experience in a demanding, quality shop is the best school. I didn't go to school but I have I-car, ASE, BASF certs. </TD></TR></TABLE>Sweet. Thanks.

 

Morrisville State College, Morrisville NewYork
i go there for Batchelors in Auto Tech, but they now offer an associates degree AAS in autobody and auto body shop maganement.

 

Spend the money and goto Wyotech out by IUP. There body shop was unbelievable, you learn the correct techniques and get to use a wealth of tools and instructor experience to your own benefit. Best money I ever spent. Then if you wanted to you could go onto Street Rod, which is all about custom metal shaping, airbrushing, english wheeling, a few other things. If you're serious about getting into the custom / auto body industry, go big.

P.s. They are dicks about professionalism, so make sure you can tolerate shaving every day.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 88civic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">apply at a body shop for a job the smaller ones i found are better for learning.
you are going to be asked to wash cars and do crap work for a while, but it will pay off. if you show the body men and painters you are a hard worker, quick learner, and do a good job(not half as$ed) and dont hide mess ups form them (be honest)...they will teach you.....but remember they are there to make money... not necessarily there to teach so respect the opportunity...

i would like to have a kid like you under me i am always willing to teach the teachable..

don't waste your money at a school it will not affect your pay much...and you will still be at the bottom of the totem pole..

good luck and if you have any further questions PM me...

bill
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Agreed 100%..

I learned in shops, and I tend not to hire kids from the local CC paint school. They tend to only know the basics, but not the way to do it in the real world. Save your money, deff. You'll learn more in 1 month ON the job than one year in school. I'd put my paycheck on that anyday.

Not to diss the schools or anything, i believe they are great idea for the DIYer... but for real world full time prof...its just not the best choice. I've seen this first hand. at least here in Fla that is..


I also have my I-car, BASF, and soon to be 3M certification...and i never went to school for it. Hard work and a good attitude is all ya need. And ESP. the whole dont hide your mess ups, very very true.

 

Well if you're saying CC classes are a little light on the experience backed information then yes, but a specialty trade school has some fantastic minds working at them (depending on where you go). Personally from my time at Wyotech for Automotive Core and Chassis Fab + High Performance Motors, I loved it. I learned how to MIG + TIG, had access to the best tools / equipment (snap-on modus, hunter road-force tire balancers and alignment racks, etc etc) and the teachers loved... well i guess schooling kids would be the best verb for it. I used to take my Chassis fab teachers out for beers at the local watering hole and pick their brains from everything to specific metal tolerances to watts linkage rear suspension designs, all of who were either accomplished fabricators, engineers or racers. It was a hunk of money, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Hell, I've been contemplating going back for the Diesel core class

but, if you have an opportunity to have a master / professional body guy teach you all the ins and outs, I'd do it that way as well. Saving money is always nice, school loans are for the birds.

 

so how are you getting all the certifications? taking test?
well im working on my certifications at school too.. i like learning at cc because not only is it cheap, you also have the time to practice.. i can use the tools and the booth whenever i want.. work on projects of my own and just.. LEARN.. and everyones cool cuz they are all there to learn.. most share the same passion for cars
at a shop you are right.. its all about money so there is little room for error. How bout you go to school and try and get a part time job at a body shop..
you will be a pro in no time! I learned so much in one semester at school and body shops are more likely to give you a job if you have some type of experience

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ThatGuy(SW) &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Agreed 100%..

I learned in shops, and I tend not to hire kids from the local CC paint school. They tend to only know the basics, but not the way to do it in the real world. Save your money, deff. You'll learn more in 1 month ON the job than one year in school. I'd put my paycheck on that anyday.

Not to diss the schools or anything, i believe they are great idea for the DIYer... but for real world full time prof...its just not the best choice. I've seen this first hand. at least here in Fla that is..


I also have my I-car, BASF, and soon to be 3M certification...and i never went to school for it. Hard work and a good attitude is all ya need. And ESP. the whole dont hide your mess ups, very very true.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I disagree, i have been in school for 3 months now i go 5 days a week from 8 to 3 and we are in the shop all day long. i can't imagine a person trying to make money in a body shop attempting to spend that much time teaching me in the body shop.

My program is 3000$ and 12 months we also have job placement. by the time we get out of school we will have painted nearly 20 cars (each) from start to finish. we have 10 students and i couldn't be more pleased with the things i am learning.

We have visitors come to help us learn to pin striping, air brushing, frame pulling, and many other things. our teacher gets to select n6 people from our class to go to the ppg school in north Florida for the weekend for free. Our limited "classwork" are worksheets designed by the same people who make the I-car tests so we can finish a packet during the day and go to the test at night and knock the test out no problem.

My teacher has been in the buisness for 40 years and his dad owned a body shop and he has over 40 i-car/ase certs and he knows many tricks that he has learned in the real world so we pretty much are running a full-time body shop.

We have a quota for cars to meet per month, and we write estimates. Few things could make this class more like "the real world"

Another benefit to this class is we don't start as floor scrubbers we work on cars right out of school. we can work at a body shop or even with an insurance company writing estimates if you deside you don't like bondo dust.

Thats my 2 cents.

 

You want to do autobody as a career? or just a hobby? Imo, if this is just a hobby and you want to save cash... find some good books and websites and start reading, then practice and try some stuff on your own.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by randomae &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

i can't imagine a person trying to make money in a body shop attempting to spend that much time teaching me in the body shop.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thats my point. learned from experience. The hard part is Painting...its knowing how to fix any mistake you have made.

My veiw on school is they try to teach a small amount of everything..when 95% of the time your a body man OR a painter. Rarely do people really MASTER both. In a shop, I dont have to deal with writing estimates, fitting parts, fixing dents, frame damage, i just deal with the paint work itsself. Once again, not hating on school, just saying if you have the chance, try ot a body shop. I've never scrubbed a floor though, I started out as a painters helper.

And yea... WyoTech is deff. waaaay diff from the local CC here. lol

 

Well i don't know what wyotech is but my school is a community college and people call my teacher looking for helpers all the time. Our program is held on high compared to our local trade/voc school which is 36,000$ compared to our 3,000$