Ionia is located in Ionia County, Michigan in the central part of the state, about 36 miles east of Grand Rapids.

S & P Auto Body is located at 470 Price St., Ionia, MI 48846-1451.

The business has recently formed a partnership with Bumper Poole, which was located at 330 W Lincoln Avenue, but which is now located in the same building with S & P Auto Body on Price St.

Location of S & P Auto Body on Price St in Ionia, MI.

S & P owner, Bill Sain, and Bumper Poole owner, Rick Poole are optimistic that their new partnership will benefit all community members.

Sain says that the new business will focus on great customer service and fast, quality work.

An article at the Sentinel-Standard.com website reports:

The shop provides a large work area where body and mechanical maintenance will take place, and it also has a large, state-of-the-art paint booth where Sain and his employees finish their hard work. Both businesses will also use a computerized estimating system for costs.

Sain loves to work on cars and has worked on them his whole life. He has experience working on on hot rods at a business in Grand Rapids and since then has decided to open his own collision repair business.

The business owners have made a significant investment in the new spray booth as well as a water-based paint that they mix themselves.

Sain says that the water-based paint is more eco-friendly and he expects it will provide superior paint matching. Sain also emphasizes that the water-based paint is the “way the EPA is pushing everything” and with the paint system, they expect to be able to match anything.

The spray booth “bake cycle” is an important feature and is designed to improve the quality of the finish.

Sain says that they have put in the “best of the best” in equipment and material and that his work carries a lifetime warranty.

Published by Finish Pro Spray Booths, a national paint booth supplier of automotive spray booths, cross draft, downdraft and industrial spray booths.

Skid loader working in the basement area at Midwest Collision to prepare it for new downdraft booth. Photo credit: Oelwein Daily Register

Oelwein is located in Fayette County, Iowa in the northeastern part of the state about 50 miles northeast of Cedar Falls.

Location of Midwest Collision in Oelwein, IA.

On Tuesday, April 26, 2011, skid loaders were working in the basement of the shop where the businesses showroom and office were located in order to fill it in to make room for the new spray booth.

An article in the Oelwein Daily Register website had a news report on the shop’s remodeling job:

“We’re putting in a new system that’s going to be a state-of-the-art paint room. The closest thing to it now is only in Waterloo and Cedar Rapids,” Winters pointed out.

They will be putting in a new downdraft spray booth. Down draft paint booths use the most up to date and modern technology to get the best results. The theory is that, unlike crossflow booths where air has to travel the length of the booth to be vented, air travels a much shorter distance in a downdraft booth (from top to bottom).

Downdraft booths tend to be a little more expensive than the older crossdraft booth designs, but can be well worth the extra expense because it can lead to increased efficiency and greater profits for the shop.

Published by Finish Pro Spray Booths, a national paint booth supplier of automotive spray booths, cross draft, downdraft and industrial spray booths.

Spray booth operations

The new EPA rule is described fully in a PDF document, published in the Federal Register and is entitled: Environmental Protection Agency, 40 CFR Part 63, National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Paint Stripping and Miscellaneous Surface Coating Operations at Area Sources; Final Rule.

The Purpose of the New EPA Rule

The rule, also known as “The 6H Rule”, “Rule 40″ or “The Refinish Rule” was first published in 2008. The purpose of the new rule is to reduce hazardous air pollution (HAPs) of metals (like chrome, lead cadmium, manganese and nickel) and reduce methylenechloride fumes from Autobody refinishing work. The new rule is available as a free download from the EPA website

Activities Affected by The New Rule

The new rule regulates three activities:

• Paint Stripping
• Surface coating of motor vehicles and mobile equipment
• Miscellaneous Surface coating operations

Area Source Categories Renamed

The EPA has also renamed some of its area source categories to more accurately reflect the scope of these source categories. Accordingly, the new rule states:

“Plastic Parts and Products (Surface Coating)” has been renamed “Miscellaneous Surface Coating,” and “Autobody Refinishing Paint Shops” has been renamed “Motor Vehicle and Mobile Equipment Surface Coating”

Compliance With The New Rule

What must collision repair shops do to comply with the new rule?

• Use HVLP or equivalent transfer efficiency
• Use only enclosed prep stations and spray booths meeting the definition of this rule (w/ minimum 98% efficient filters)
• Train all painters to utilize the required technology, including methods to minimize overspray/waste
• No spray gun cleaning by atomization of cleaning solvent into filters; must use hand breakdown of guns for cleaning or enclosed gun cleaner apparatus
• Keep records to demonstrate compliance
• File required notification with EPA and/or your state or local air agency

Failure to follow these steps could lead to heavy fines.

Spray Booths and Prep Stations

Spray booth and prep stations must meet the requirements of the new rule.

• All spray-applied coatings must be applied in a prep station or spray booth.
• For motor vehicle and mobile equipment surface coating, prep stations and spray booths
  that are large enough to hold a complete vehicle must have four complete side walls or curtains and a complete roof.
• For motor vehicle and mobile equipment subassemblies and for miscellaneous surface coating, coatings must be spray applied in a booth with a full roof and at least three walls or side
  curtains.
• Openings are allowed in the sidewalls and roof of booths used for miscellaneous surface coating to allow for parts conveyors, if needed.
• The exhaust from the prep station or spray booth must be fitted with filters demonstrated to achieve at least 98 percent filter efficiency of paint overspray.

Helpful links:

• EPA Autobody Refinishing Shops 40 CFR Part 63 Subpart HHHHHH Rule

  http://www.tat-co.com/media/cms/6H%20Training.pdf

• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new rule, 40CFR63 Subpart HHHHHH

  http://www.tat-co.com/media/cms/6H%20Targeted%20HAPs%20Letter.pdf

• EPA RULE 40 CFR PART 63 SUBPART HHHHHH

  http://www.tat-co.com/media/Training%20Certificate_6H.pdf

• Are You Ready For The 6H Rule?

  http://www.tat-co.com/blog/regulations/are-you-ready-for-the-6h-rule/

Crossdraft Paint Booth

For a lmited time only, Finish Pro Spray Booths is offering Free Shipping on all paint booths and paint booth filters to help ignite sales in the auto body, automotive and industrial paint booth sectors.

“We realize due to the circumstances of the economy, we have to do our part to help our friends who are in need. If that means less profit for us, then that is the way it has to be”, says Jennifer Gottardi, owner of The Finish Pro.

Finish Pro offers automotive spray booths, truck booths, downdraft booths, industrial spray booths, accessories such as paint arrestors,  paint booth filters, intake filters, exhaust filters, exhust duct kits, spray booth light fixtures and more.