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Complete aluminum repair resources from 3M
Clean, Confident Aluminum Body Repair
Good news: the same commonly accepted repair practices and products you use for steel – including 3M seam sealers, body fillers, undercoats and abrasives – generally work very well for aluminum auto body repair. That said, it’s important to follow some critical guidelines on how to repair aluminum body panels. Our collection of standard operating procedures and knowledgeable technical tips for aluminum repair can help your operations thrive. 3M has gathered and developed a wealth of information on properly working with aluminum in your shop. You’ll find it all right here.
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Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Aluminum RepairThese SOPs contain more than two decades of industry knowledge, gathered and developed by 3M to save you time and money on aluminum repair. You’ll find proper procedures at each key point in the aluminum panel repair process, including prep for paint and sealers. Aluminum SOPs are also provided for heavy duty trucks and glass removal and installation.
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Technical Tips for Aluminum RepairBeyond the products and procedures, aluminum body repair can generate important questions about what’s different – and what’s the same – vs. repairing steel. These tips from our technical experts can help answer questions regarding the behavior of both metals, the need for additional products and equipment, aluminum corrosion protection and more.
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Important NoteThere are of course many factors and variables that can affect an individual repair, so the technician and repair facility need to evaluate each specific application and repair process, including relevant vehicle, part and OEM guidelines, and determine what is appropriate for that repair.
Featured Standard Operating Procedures for Aluminum Repair
Metal Shop for Aluminum Repairs
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Aluminum Large Damage Repair3M SOPs for Aluminum Large Damage Repair provide the steps for prepping, filling, sanding and inspecting aluminum panel repairs where the original paint layer has been broken and the damage includes significant denting.
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Aluminum Small Damage RepairSmall damage repair of aluminum involves a more streamlined process vs. large repairs, but no less care to avoid substrate cross-contamination. SOPs are available in English and Spanish for both aluminum and traditional materials.
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Aluminum Express Damage RepairExpress repairs, or removing minor dents and dings from aluminum panels where paint hasn’t been compromised, are increasingly common in the body shop. These 3M SOPs detail the procedure for repairing small aluminum damage areas.
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Aluminum Door Skin RemovalRemoving aluminum door panels requires extra care to avoid damage and rework. These 3M SOPs show proper tools and procedures for the removal of the aluminum door skin and efficient hem flange grinding and spot weld removal.
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Aluminum Door Skin Full ReplacementThese complete 3M resources detail the procedures for replacing aluminum door skins, from door frame prep to final seam sealing. SOPs include recommended 3M products such as abrasives, panel bonding adhesives and seam sealers.
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Aluminum Panel BondingOEMs increasingly use aluminum panels in vehicle construction, and often require panel bonding adhesives in body repair. 3M SOPs for Aluminum Panel Bonding provide important surface preparation, application and panel installation best practices.
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Aluminum Welding Spark ProtectionUsing welding and spark protection is a best practice for protecting adjacent repair areas during aluminum repair. These SOPs show the proper use of welding and spark protection paper and welding drapes.
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Aluminum Metal Working
These important SOPs show the procedures for effectively removing creases and dents without further damaging aluminum panels. They include necessary surface preparation and precautions against stretching, cracking and thinning of aluminum.
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Aluminum Part Replacement
Review documents and video for replacing aluminum panels, including the removal of sealers, coatings, rivets and spot welds, as well as panel separation. SOPs also cover procedures for aluminum surface preparation and panel installation.
Repairing Heavy Duty Trucks in the Aluminum Shop
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Heavy Duty Truck Aluminum Panel RemovalAluminum panel removal requires some simple yet important procedures for heavy duty trucks. View the procedures for proper tools, cleaning, sealer removal, rivet removal and panel separation for these large aluminum panels.
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Heavy Duty Truck Aluminum Panel Installation: AdhesiveThese SOPs provide proper ways to install aluminum panels on heavy duty trucks using 3M™ SMC/Fiberglass Repair Adhesive. You’ll find valuable information on cleaning, alignment, adhesive application and panel installation.
English Download: Aluminum Panel Installation Adhesive (PDF, 1.4 MB)
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Heavy Duty Truck Aluminum Dent RepairHere are the procedures for repairing dents in large aluminum panels. Standard procedures for sanding, filling and glaze are provided as well as methods for masking, straightening and product application specific to aluminum.
Seam Sealers and Coatings for Aluminum Repairs
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Aluminum Seam Sealer: Direct to MetalThese clear, easy-to-follow SOPS for aluminum repairs include surface preparation, application and tooling of seam sealers applied direct to metal (DTM) to recreate OEM appearance and function. Recommended 3M products are also included.
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Aluminum Corrosion Protection: Cavity WaxCavity wax application is strongly recommended following any aluminum repair. 3M SOPs provide simple procedures for resealing aluminum surfaces and joints, helping ensure corrosion protection.
English Download: Corrosion Protection Cavity Wax (PDF, 168 KB)
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Aluminum Corrosion Protection: UndercoatingHere are 3M SOPs to maximize corrosion protection when applying undercoats to aluminum substrates. They include recommended 3M products as well as best practices for aluminum surface preparation and the application of coatings.
English Download: Corrosion Protection Undercoating (PDF, 260 KB)
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Aluminum Anti-Chip CoatingAnti-chip coating is vital for preventing damage caused by stones and other road debris to painted aluminum surfaces. These SOPs cover the best practices for every step from contaminant and OEM coating removal to final blend sanding.
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Aluminum Seam Sealer: Non-Direct to MetalReview SOPs for proper aluminum surface preparation and sealer application for non-direct to metal collision repair jobs. This process applies for urethane or two-part epoxy seam sealers during aluminum auto body repair.
English Download: Seam Sealer No Direct to Metal (PDF, 214 KB)
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Aluminum LASD Replacement On Body3M SOPs provide the procedures for replacing Liquid Applied Sound Deadening (LASD) and Noise/Vibration/Harshness (NVH) material into aluminum panels without the need for creating replicas separately from the vehicle body. Includes recommended 3M products.
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Aluminum LASD Replacement Off BodyView SOPs on procedures for replacing Liquid Applied Sound Deadening (LASD) and NVH material by recreating parts separately from the vehicle body for installation into aluminum vehicle panels. Includes recommended 3M products.
Aluminum Repair in the Paint Shop
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Aluminum Feather-Prime-BlockReview the SOPs for a key part of aluminum paint preparation. Included are procedures for sanding and primer application to aluminum panels. They also include recommended products and abrasive grits for each step of the process.
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Aluminum Feather-Prime-Block for Waterborne PrimerThese SOPs present the specific procedures for applying waterborne primer to aluminum panels. They include the extra DA sanding steps vs. non-waterborne primer as well as recommended abrasive grits at each step.
English Download: Feather Prime Block Waterborne (PDF, 190 KB)
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Aluminum Blend Panel Sanding ProcessThese SOPs contain the steps, tools and abrasive grits recommended to clean and sand aluminum repair areas and adjacent aluminum panels. Note: it is important to separate tools and abrasives to prevent cross-contamination.
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Aluminum E-Coat Panel PrepHere are the tools, techniques and abrasive grits for proper surface preparation to hard e-coated aluminum panels. These SOPs include steps for hand sanding and machine sanding as well as application of seal and topcoats.
Paint Application for Aluminum Repairs
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3M™ PPS™ for Aluminum RepairHere is everything you need to use our 3M™ PPS™ paint preparation system for applying paint to aluminum smoothly and efficiently. Included are the components necessary for spot, 1-panel, 2-panel and 3-panel aluminum paint repairs.
Glass Shop Aluminum Repairs
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Aluminum Windshield Removal and InstallationThese SOPs provide a valuable overview of the correct procedures for windshield R & I. Procedures include best practices for proper inspection, surface preparation and product application during windshield R & I.
English Download: Windshield Removal and Installation (PDF, 199 KB)
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Aluminum Stationary Auto Glass Removal and InstallationHere are SOPs for auto glass R & I. They include procedures for applying 2-part epoxy primer. Procedures include best practices for proper inspection, surface preparation and product application during windshield R & I.
English Download: Stationary Auto Glass Removal and Installation (PDF, 224 KB)
Get more process guides. Download the full SOP books for these three areas.
Technical Tips for Aluminum Repair
3M provides technical resources to address any concern you have about working with aluminum in auto body repair. Here are some quick tips that can save you a lot of worry and hassle in the aluminum shop.
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Corrosion Protection on Aluminum Surfaces
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Customer Challenge: Since aluminum does not rust, why is corrosion protection still important?
Technical Tip: Aluminum naturally forms a very thin layer of oxide on its surface. This layer (normally just a few hundredths of a millimeter thick) tends to impede the adhesion of coatings, such as seam sealers, fillers and primers, and can cause them to peel. Therefore it is very important to completely remove this layer of oxide before applying any auto repair coatings. Also, this oxide layer is self-healing, meaning it will quickly reform after it’s been removed. You should always apply coatings to abraded aluminum surfaces no more than one hour after the oxide has been removed. Otherwise, you must re-abrade the surface.
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Avoiding Galvanic Corrosion
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Customer Challenge: What is galvanic corrosion, and why should I be worried about it?
Technical Tip: Galvanic corrosion occurs when two dissimilar substrates, such as aluminum and steel, come into contact. Each substrate has a natural electrical charge. The substrate with the higher electrical charge (aluminum) will always start “donating” electrons to the lower-activity substrate (steel) to achieve a natural balance. This results in the aluminum corroding and falling apart over time – leading to blistering and other paint failures in aluminum vehicle repair.
You can help prevent galvanic corrosion by ensuring all substrates are properly cleaned before coatings are applied.
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Aluminum Shop Hygiene
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Customer Challenge: Is it possible to create a true “clean room” for aluminum repair in the body shop?
Technical Tip: Even if you completely segregate your steel and aluminum repairs, it’s unlikely that you can achieve total separation. It is vital to examine your overall shop hygiene. Establish regular cleaning protocols to maintain shop cleanliness, especially for dust – you should always assume that some dust particles will inevitably settle on dissimilar panels. Self-generated vacuum tools can also be used to keep the dust particles to a minimum while keeping equipment spends down. Never use the same tools or abrasives for both steel and aluminum repairs, and clean your tools regularly. Incorporate procedures for cleaning vehicle panels immediately before applying any coatings.
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Stocking up for Aluminum
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Customer Challenge: How many additional 3M products will I need for aluminum repairs in the shop?
Technical Tip: You should not need to change your 3M product inventory to accommodate aluminum repair. With very few exceptions, all 3M materials that are used for steel repairs can be used for aluminum repairs, as long as they are used in accordance with directions for use, OEM guidelines and 3M standard operating procedures for aluminum substrates.
One key difference is that OEMs will generally specify somewhat lighter abrasive grades for aluminum, but stocking completely different abrasives is not necessary.
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Need Help Finding the Right Solution?
These 3M resources are meant to help you save time, save money and get the most out of your collision repair operations. If have additional questions about aluminum repair or anything related to 3M collision repair products and solutions, we’re happy to help. You can send us a message at the right. Or, if your needs are more immediate (or if you just want to talk shop), we’re ready to chat. We look forward to working with you!
