Mike, Tom, Phillip, Randy

What an incredible time I have to say The Interior Guy and the Viper Products Team had at the Mobile Tech Expo 2012! From what I heard over 9000 people went through the Worldgate Resort in Orlando, Florida. All I know is it was awesome for all of the people that were there both exhibitors as well as Mobile Techs and you newbies too. A ton of information was shared between all techs which is something I thought was so awesome. No matter how seasoned you may be there is always something new and better to learn. This business is always a learning adventure for sure, I love it!

The range of booths that were set up was almost perfect, there were booths from Dent guys to Interior Guys to Paint and Autobody and even a few in between. The show is growing bigger and better every year for sure. Now being the first year that I went I really don’t have much to go on but from I’ve heard this one was the best. Of course there’s always room for growth and improvement so I’m definitely looking forward to next years show and what The Interior Guy and Viper Products will have to show as well as the other exhibitors and the Mobile Tech News crew.

Well its been a week since Ive gotten back and wow what a week I’ve had. First I want to say I don’t like the weather here as much! Man it was nice in Orlando, nice 80 degree days in January is something I could get used to for sure. But I have to say its nice to be home to my family and my clients. Kinda got a little behind being out of the loop for 3 days so as u know when you get behind its always tough plus add my new adventure and well let me explain…

Big things are happening here at The Interior Guy! While I was in Florida soaking up the warmth I was also soaking in the idea of expanding. Starting next month if everything works as planned The Interior Guy will be a distributor for Viper Products. Yep a distributor! This is gonna be incredible for you all as my following as well as for The Interior Guy. Not only will I be posting about new products as well as instructional help but I will be able to supply you with the products as well, cool huh? Location is also a big thing with shipping costs these days and with us being right smack dab in the middle of US, how could it get any better. So now Viper Products will have the country covered for all your Automotive Interior Repair Products. The main office in Orlando, a distributor in California and now here in Missouri. With all this at one place you shouldn’t have any probs getting the top of line automotive interior repairs to your customers.

I’m stoked and my wife is as well. She will be doing most of the order taking and shipping and I will still be doing repairs and taking care of my clients here, as well as my interior repair training, since my training program is designed around the real world situations I surely don’t want to leave my clients. Plus now that I’m wearing the big boy pants I cant forget who put the diapers on me . For now you will still call the 1-800 number and place your orders with my main man Randy Singh, and it will probably be that way for a while until I can get my wife up and going with this.

So keep your eyes out for changes here at Automotive Interior Repair with The Interior Guy. I hope to get products up soon as well as reopening my forum for more access to Q&A. My forum just got out of hand with spammers and I just didnt have the time nor patience to put up with them, but I’ll bite the bullet and get’r back up soon.

One thing I have added is a map locator on my contact page which is the beginnings of a nation wide locator for automotive interior professionals. This is going to be my way of networking everyone together. So with that said if you want your info on the map shoot me an email with what you want in the bubble and I’ll put it up there. I think this will be a killer tool for all, so get your info emails in soon!

Well the Mobile Tech Expo 2012 was definitely a big success in my book and it really put a fire under my butt to get things rocking and rolling in the automotive interior repair profession.

I hope you all had as much fun as I did in Orlando and I look forward to seeing each and everyone of you all again real soon.

Talk to ya soon – Mike “The Interior Guy”

An increasing number of accidents on the road are due to people focusing more on their cell phone than their driving. Five states and the District of Columbia have banned the use of hand-held phones while driving. A NYPD officer trying to enforce the cell phone use law told NPR that every second car has a person holding a phone while driving. A study by the insurance industry found that while phone use dipped by about half right after New York’s law went into effect in 2001, within a year, it had bounced back to pre-restriction levels, despite a $100 fine.

Not only for legal reasons, but also safety, convenience and allowing yourself a greater ability to multi-task, there are a few interior car accessories, aside from buying a Bluetooth and throwing your phone on the passenger seat, that ought to be considered in making driving and talking more efficient.

Non-Slip Pads. Can be easily stuck on top of the dash or any convenient place within reach. Allows for quick placement of phones as well as keys, iPods, iPad and anything that needs to be nearby.

Power Outlet/Charger/USB Adapter. Most versions will plug easily into the car cigarette lighter and some will fit into a cup holder. Various options will convert a single outlet to multiple power sources allowing you to charge your phone, computer and other accessories on the go.

Phone Holder Mounts. Most on the market are easily attachable and are adjustable to fit any phone. Some options include mounting to horizontal or vertical vents, on the glove box door or window channel. Using either a Bluetooth or simply the phone speaker, you can easily talk while driving. Numbers you have access to via voice command can be dialed, but manual dialing, no matter how close the phone is to you, is not recommended while driving.

Speaker Steering Wheel. One of the more recent interior car accessories to hit the market, it is Bluetooth compatible and totally hands-free. The device clips to the steering wheel and allows you to make, answer, end and reject calls safely and easily while focusing on the road. With features such as built-in speakers, voice dialing, call rejection, last number redial, call holding and call waiting it is very handy for people using their phone a great deal in the car. The built-in rechargeable lithium battery allows up to 5 hours of talk time or 250 hours of standby time.

Well today I wanted to give you guys a little tip on getting a grain pattern into you next leather or vinyl repair using the “Wet Grain Method“. This little trick can be used with just about any air dry or heat cured compound on leather or vinyl and really could probably be used on plastic but never really tried it yet.

This process has saved me a couple of times and has enhanced some of my repairs and made them basically disappear. It’s kinda a last resort to getting it right.

After your repair is mended, smooth, and level take your compound and lay a thin to medium coat over the area needing to be grained. Next step requires a product from Viper Products called Wet Grain Slicker. What this does is puts a slick coating over your grain pad so that when you press the grain pad into the wet compound it won’t stick. Now what you’ll do is take a drop or two of the Slicker and place it on the grain side of your pad, rub it around so that the whole pad is covered, you don’t want it really wet just slick you may have to wipe a little off with a paper towel. Next lay your pad carefully over the compound and press it firmly with your palm. Be careful not to move the pad when you press or you will lose the effect. This part is kinda tricky, remove the pad slowly and carefully so not to mess up the grain. Once you’ve removed the pad take your heat gun and cure the compound, if it’s leather make sure to cure slowly with low heat. Sand lightly but to much you remove your grain, just enough to remove some of the high spots left from removing the pad. There you go, a grain pattern.

I use this on leather quite a bit with Viper’s Leather Extreme fill. I’ll use my finger to smooth the compound around the area I want a grain into and at times it may take a couple of attempts to achieve the look I want, but it’s been a life saver for sure.

Sometimes you’ll have to lay a coat of dye over the area to see if it blends or if another attempt is needed. Just remember to clean thoroughly between sanding and seal the area before your dye with a swipe of Grip Base on a wet paper towel.

This trick of the Wet Grain Method does take a little practice to get it right, but when you master it it can save you from a not so perfect job. Always keep your repairs level and as small as possible to achieve optimum results.

Well I hope this helps in your next Automotive Interior Repair job on leather and vinyl and fell free to leave a comment for me on this and let me know how it works out for you.

Talk to ya soon,

Mike Warren – The Interior Guy

Lately I’ve been getting calls and emails from people wanting to know how to mix a color, what colors do what, and what colors they need to have with them.

As far as color matching, I match all my dyes by eye, meaning I use no formula, no mixing chart, just knowledge of colors and what they can do. So if your looking for a formula for how I mix my colors your looking in the wrong place.

What I’m going to do is give you the basics of colors and what colors will do when mixed together. The rest is up to you to learn and take mental note of how to achieve the color your looking for. I learned something from an Art teacher of mine in High School, she said that art is a learned behavior, yes one has to have talent, but the techniques of painting, drawing, and color mixing are learned. If you were to stop drawing at say 12 years old and never picked up a pencil to draw again until you were 30, you would draw like a 12 year old, it’s a learned behavior.

So with that said, lets get onto some learning…

Primary Colors

There are 3 colors that are the Primary Colors, Red, Blue, and Yellow and all colors vary from just these 3 colors in either hues or shade. A hue is a variance in any one color and a shade is the intensity of a color.

Secondary Colors

These are colors that come from mixing 2 primary colors together. For example if you mix Red + Blue = Purple, Yellow + Blue = Green, Red + Yellow = Orange. So Purple, Green, and Orange are your secondary colors.

Complementary Colors

This is something I use a lot when mixing my colors. The reason for this is if I go to far with one color I use it’s compliment to counteract or cancel out that color. If you don’t have a color wheel then here’s a great tool that will help, it’s called the “Color Triangle” . Draw a triangle, put one of each of the primary colors at the corners and one of each of the secondary colors on each side in mixing order. Now with the colors in place pick a color… lets say Red, when you look directly across the triangle what do you see, Green, that’s Red’s complimentary color, same goes for a color wheel. They call it a compliment because when you put the two together they make the other seem more intense or vibrant. When a color your mixing is lets say too yellow, add it’s compliment which is purple to cancel the yellow out.

Tertiary Colors

Tertiary Colors are your browns and grays. These are the colors that we deal with mostly in today’s vehicles. They’re created by mixing either all three primary colors or a primary and secondary color (secondary colors of course being made from two primaries). By varying the proportions of the colors you’re mixing, you create the different tertiary colors.

Black and White

Black and white are colors you would think would be part of the primary colors or even the secondary colors but they leave them out due to the fact that you they can’t be mixed by using the other colors. Most artist’s don’t even use black or white but in the automotive world it’s used more then none. When adding white you will loose intensity in the color and when adding black the color will mud. I do use a lot of white and black to lighten or darken a colors but I will have to add a little more color for intensity, if not the color will have a milky look to it. I call this “milking the color”. You’ll notice this in your tans mostly, you’ll get the shade right but the color has a white look to it, if you add little more color to it you should keep the shade but loose the milky look.

We have an unlimited pallet of colors to choose from, yes you could sit down with the 3 primary colors with black and white and get the colors you desire, but we have choices of pre-mixed colors that will get you there a little quicker. Here’s an example of some of the colors I carry on board with me that I use to mix the automotive interior colors. You’ll notice I use a red and a yellow oxide, these are hues of yellow and red with a brown shade added. Most of the colors used in today’s auto’s are a hues and shades of brown, even your gray’s.

Main Colors -

• Black
• White
• Dark Brown
• Yellow Oxide
• Red Oxide

3 Primary Colors -

• Red
• Blue
• Yellow

Secondary Color -

• Green
• Violet

Metallics

• Silver
• Gold

Now I don’t usually carry an orange, the reason for this is that almost every color I am mixing is a shade of brown or gray which IS a hue of orange and the yellow and red oxides work better for this.

One hint on mixing your leather dyes. Keep a selection of pigments to go along with your premixed dyes. I mix all my dyes in two ounce jars, which is plenty of dye for just about any job your doing. I’ll mix about 1 and 3/4 of an ounce of my premixed dyes and get the color as close as I can get it, then to finalize the color off I’ll use my pigments to get me there quicker. You kinda have to experiment a little with this, the pigments will get you there really quick so very small amounts. I use this when I get a color say a little dark and I’m running out of room in the jar, I’ll grab the white pigment to lighten it up or a color pigment to intensify the color instead of using my premixed which could cause me to have to mix more then I would need. Theres no need to waste dye, dye is money.

By the way, I have some people asking about keeping your dyes and some that have said they just dump the excess when their done. I keep all my dyes and use them over and over. I do this by not mixing to many different colors, what I mean by this is I will have around 10 jars of grays and 10 jars of browns with a few reds and blues and just tweek them for each individual job. I also use a crosslinker which enables me to keep my dyes up to six weeks before they start to gel up, which by that time I’ve already used it on something else by just tinting it to match. Why throw away usable dye, that’s money your pouring down the drain!

Color matching is something you just have to play with. Start with your basics like is it dark or light? If its dark start with a dark brown or a black, if it’s a light color then start with white or the lighter color in the mix as your main color and tint from there. Your blues and reds you’ll start with the primary color and tint from there by adding in small amounts, and I do mean small, it doesn’t take much to make red into pink.

One thing you might try is to go to your nearest upholstery shop and get some scrap peices of the most recent colors and take them home and just sit down and mix. Just play with the colors and see what they do. Remember its a learned behavior and you have to learn what each color will do before you can mix your colors to match.

Well guys I hope this answered some of your questions on mixing your colors to match. It’s something that takes practice, patience, and knowledge just like anything in the automotive interior repair business. I gave you some knowledge so let’s give it some practice and be patient, it took me some time to pick it up too.

Talk to you soon,

Mike “TIG”

p.s. don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter!

Most of the colors are close to the original colors of the interiors of most of the vehicles on the market but always test an area first before you start any project to insure color match.

I will say this on Black, mostly the Landau Black will be the choice for most of your repairs. It just matches better with sheen and all.

Red’s and Blue’s be prepared to use maybe twice as much dye in most projects due to the transparency of the dyes.

Always clean and prep prior to applying any Sem aerosol paints. Soap and warm water always works great! Scotch Brite pads are usually all that’s needed for scuffing the surface, any harsher and sanding marks could be left and will show through and leave you with undesireable results.

Apply a coat of adhesion promoter to the surface before you paint, this will also help to give you maximum adhesion and a lasting repair.

For all your Sem Aerosol colors check out TCP Global’s Auto Color Library. They have a great site for everything automotive whether it be the outside or the inside. Just scroll down on the left you’ll see Vinyl and Leather Paint under the heading Aerosol Paint Center. They will also mix custom colors for you!

Talk to ya soon,
Mike “TIG”

About 3 years ago I picked up airbrushing for a hobby and I’ve really enjoyed it a lot. Ive learned things from gun control to mixing colors. Gun control is a big thing in the upholstery repair business and using an airbrush to do detailed work, like a piece of art work, really trains your brain in the hand – eye coordination department.

If your having problems mixing colors this is a great place to test out what colors do what and what colors can be used to tint and get your desired results.

One big thing I’ve learned from using my airbrush is the use of a blocking card. You can achieve so many different results by the use of a blocking card, fades to straight lines. This has helped me in my repairs in so many ways.

Well I hope you like these. Both kits come with an airbrush and a compressor, plus all kinds of other goodies. The airbrushes in these kits I personally own and both are great airbrushes for the beginner and the novice.

High Performance Iwata HP-C Plus Airbrush System

Complete with Accessories.
Powerful Air Compressor with Tank.
Iwata HP-C Plus High Performance Airbrush “Professionals Workhorse”.
How To Secrets: Airbrush Book.
20 Paint Colors to get you Started.
Plus everything to keep it Organized:
Holder for up to 4 Airbrushes.
Cleaning Pot, 100 Mix Cups & Sticks.
Makes a Perfect Gift!
PAYPAL – GOOGLE Checkout – MC – VISA – AMEX – DISCOVER – OnLine Checks – and now:
Paying Made Easy! BILLMELATER – 90 Days with No Payments!
List Price: $569.97 – YOUR PRICE ONLY: 379.98

Paasche VL Complete Airbrush Set

Includes Gravity Airbrush, Compressor and Full Accessories.

Paasche VL Airbrush Set:
Paasche’s Best Selling Dual-Action Airbrush Set!
This Versitile VL Airbrush is Favored by T-shirt artists, but is also great for illustrations, stenciling, and multiple other arts and crafts.
The VL airbrush can obtain spray patterns in detail from fine to very broad, and can handle a vast viscosity range in fluids.
The Paasche VL Set includes:
VL#3 Double-Action Airbrush.
#1 and #5 Aircap, Needle, Nozzle Sets.
Head Protecting Cap.
6 Foot Braided Air Hose.
Metal Color Cup.
Two Bottle Assemblies and Bottle w/Cover Assembly.
Hanger and Wrench.
PAASCHE’S 22 Airbrush Lessons Booklet and Parts Sheet! .
The VL AIRBRUSH is Excellent for multiple use: Custom Auto and Motorcycle Graphics, T-Shirt Airbrushing, Taxidermy, Leather Airbrushing, Models, Trains, RC Cars, Ceramics, Graphic Arts, Body Art Tattoos, Cake Decorating, Chip or Ding Repair, and More!.
The VL can obtain spray patterns in detail from fine to very broad, and can handle a vast viscosity range in fluids. This airbrush is suitable for both left or right-handed users. This airbrush also has optional color cups and bottle assemblies are available for larger volumes of paint.
Here’s an idea of pattern sizes and which set-ups are best for various fluids: .
VL#1 Spray Pattern 1/64″- 1″ for Light Fluids.
VL#3 Spray Pattern 1/32″- 1 1/4″ for Medium Fluids.
VL#5 Spray Pattern 1/16″- 1 1/2″ for Heavy Fluids.
The recommended air pressure 0.5 to 1 CFM @ 20 to 45 lbs.
System Includes:
Paasche VL-SET Precision Dual-Action Siphon Feed VL Airbrush Set with 3 Tips.
and Braided Airbrush Hose (Includes Factory Warranty).
Airbrush-Depot Brand Model TC-20T Maintenance Free Air Compressor with Tank (Includes a Full 2 Year Warranty) that has a Automatic On/Off Shutoff, Air Regulator with Gauge & Water Trap Filter.
Createx Brand 12 Popular Airbrush Paint Colors Set.
Createx Brand How to Begin Airbrushing DVD.
Plus everything to keep it Organized:
3 in 1 Use Airbrush Cleaning Pot along with Airbrush Cleaning Solution .
100 1 oz. Plastic Mixing Cups and 100 Mixing Sticks.
Universal Airbrush Holder for up to 4 Airbrushes.
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Paying Made Easy! BILLMELATER – 90 Days with No Payments!
List Price: 389.97 Your Price: 259.98

I’ve already painted my little fridge in my shop using my image projector. Not a big deal but the idea is you can do anything. Cars, boats, ATV’s, walls, doors, ceilings, man I could go on forever, the possibilities are endless.

All you do is slide a picture under the projector and it enlarges the photo onto what ever your wanting to draw or paint on. Trace over it and finish it off. It’s just cool, I love this thing.

Well check it out and let me know what you think. Click Here

Tracer Image Projector 225 360

A versatile art projector for the beginning artist or crafter, and Artograph’s bestseller. The Tracer enlarges any design or pattern onto a wall or easel from 2 to 14 times the original size. Projected image can be easily traced and colored as desired. No set-up necessary and simple to operate. Standard 100-watt bulb included. Dark room required.

Product Highlights

• Enlarges flat artwork and small 3-D objects from 2 up to 14 times onto any vertical surface.
• Illumination: 100-watt bulb (included)
• Easy to use
• Horizontal projection onto any vertical surface.
• Lightweight and portable
• Silent operation.
• Ready when you are – no set up or assembly.
• Copy size: 5″ x 5″ (13 x 13 cm). Work in sections with larger designs and prints.
• Net Weight: 3 lbs.
• Lens: 200mm optical glass
• 5-year warranty
• Made in the U.S.A.

ART 225-360 – Tracer Image Projector.
LIST $113.99 – NOW ONLY $59.99

Painting in temperatures less then 40 degrees makes it almost impossible to yield a perfect repair without a little preparation first.

The first and foremost thing is to heat up the area where the repair is being made. Now the best way to do this is with a hairdryer, not your heat gun. This will heat the area just enough to make it easier to work with and not damage the area any further (like a hole in vinyl getting larger due to to much heat being put to it). Heating the area will also help your compounds work like their supposed to along with giving you a warmer surface for the dye to stick to helping in curing time.

Here’s probably the biggest tip I can give you in helping your water based dyes to dry faster. Add a little rubbing alcohol, otherwise known as isopropyl alcohol, to your dye mixer. Now not too much, just a little squirt or two from your squeeze bottle will do. It makes a huge difference. The alcohol evaporates the water from the dye faster which in turn dries your dye faster. When buying it though make sure you get the 90% or better mixer, it’s more of a pure mixer. Here’s a link to a 99% isopropyl alcohol.

I usually start adding alcohol to my mixer at about 50 degrees or so especially if there’s a lot of moisture in the air. We have some pretty high humidity here in the mid west so when I have a blustery moist day I add a little rubbing alcohol to my dye and it cuts my drying time to almost nil. One thing too by using a hairdryer rather then a heat gun they blow harder which with the alcohol mixer, airflow is the trick. It seems like with more air blowing on the dye with the alcohol the faster it drys too.

With the prices of gas going down we can also get a little leeway on being able to run a vehicle with the heat on. If you can, run your vehicles when doing your repairs with the heat blasted. This will not only help warm the inside up but will also save the battery and blow a few of the lot rot cobweb’s that occur when some of the lot cars sit. It’s still a waste of gas but when you have a cold day and a repair is needed to be made then a warm car can improve the result immensely.

Well I hope all is well out there in your automotive world. Stay warm and make sure to keep your water based dyes warm too. Frozen dyes are ruined dyes.

Talk to you soon,

Mike “TIG”

If a heat gun breaks down while your doing a repair it can cost you time and money in the long run. So buying a cheap heat gun and thinking your saving money is a bad move believe me. I went through that phase of thinking buying a cheap gun just to get me by would work, well after running back and forth to the hardware store every other week or even sooner I figured it was not saving me anything, all it was doing was causing me frustration and more money each time I was down. So I figured it was time to break down and get with the big boys and buy the right equipment for the right job.

There are so many options out there to choose from. I’m going to try to give you a few pointers in the use of your heat guns and give you some choices to choose from.

First and foremost there is something that I’ve learned that will save your heat gun and make your heating element last ten times longer, now this is a feature that is not available on most of the less expensive models, its what is called the “cool down” time. The cool down time is crucial in cooling the element gradually so not to burn it out. What this is is when you turn the heat off on the gun, you can switch it to where cool air blows through cooling the element slowly. This little trick will make your heat gun last a lot longer, believe me. In fact I won’t buy a gun unless it can be switched to cool air. I used to go through elements like crazy and then being the man I was didn’t think to look at the manual, but one day in the shop going through some paper work I happen to read a little about the heat gun I was using and came across a part that talked about the cool down stage and how when you get done with the unit to let it sit and run on the cool air cycle for about a minute before it’s to be shut down. They gave no real reason for this, you know most instruction manuals, anyways it made since. You know how if things that are really hot and don’t get a chance to cool down right, then they sometimes take on a different shape, form or even molecular structure. So I tried it and it really worked, really it was kinda a “duh” thing but just one more thing to help from having down time. No more buying elements on a regular basis.

Depending on the heat gun you use and really this can go for all the guns is to be careful not to drop it. On the inside if you haven’t ever seen the heating element, is a coil of wire wrapped around a ceramic piece and this stuff is kinda delicate. If you break the ceramic too bad then the gun will burn itself up. It has to do with the heat transfer or something like that, but they will break if you drop them to many times. We all get in a hurry sometimes and tools get to fly’n but this one is just a little more delicate then most so you gotta be a little more delicate with this one.

Laying your heat gun down while doing a repair can be a challenge, because you can’t really keep turning your heat gun off and on just to lay it down for a second to get more compound on the repair or shoot a little dye on the repair area. So finding a gun that either stands up on it’s own or finding something to lay the gun on without burning something else and creating another repair. I do a lot of new limo’s and when I’m inside there’s no room for error, and if my gun falls over onto a seat or burns a spot in the carpet then I’m….well let’s just not go there. I use a piece of cardboard to set my gun on and really pay attention to where the blast is going. I’ll even hold the gun between my legs so I don’t have to set it down if needed. Just anything to keep a very bad thing happening.

I’ve used both types of heat guns that either stand up on there own or not. The ones that have the stand, well they’re handy but I see why they have the stands because they’re so big and heavy. One thing to keep in mind is the weight of a gun too, it’s kinda hard holding a heavy heat gun up to doing a repair. But I like my big gun the elements are easy to change and I like the way I can set it down easily. It heats well and does have a cool down mode. But like I said it is heavy and a lot of times I will use my lighter weight heat gun. It’s easier to handle and the one I have has a digital read out so I know what temp I’m at for each job.

The digital read out is nice, I have total control of temperature. There’s a couple of heat guns I would recommend if your looking for control with your heat. One is the Steinel IntelliTemp and the other is the Wagner Digital heat guns. Both are great guns, the Steinel is of course a more commercial grade type of gun, made to last in extreme work environments. The Wagner I’d say is more lower end commercial model but probably won’t last as long. I’m using the Wagner right now, I’m still kinda in that cheap a@# mode but the gun works pretty good. I bought it in a pinch when my big gun went down and I couldn’t get a part right away and happen to find it on the damaged shelf, the only thing wrong with it was the spout had a dent in it, yes I know I’m a cheap a@#. The read out isn’t exactly a LCD read out but you do have control over your temperature range. The Steinel will probably be my next purchase due to the durability and the LCD read out is nice, but so far so good the Wagners doin the trick.

Now one other little device you do need to go along from with your heat gun for doing a vinyl repair and even leather repairs is a reducer tip. What this will do will concentrate the heat to a smaller area giving you more control in your smaller repairs and reducing the “halo effect”. That is one thing that I didn’t like with the Wagner is that it did not come with a reducer tip. Luckily I had one made for my other gun. It’s a long 1/4″ tube welded to a piece that slides down over the end of the heat gun. But I will tell you if you use one of these make sure it is on there before you start your repair, if it falls off in the car when it’s hot it will burn the car and You when you go to grab it in a frantic, been there, it hurts.

One last little tip when using your heat gun. If your dyeing an entire seat don’t use your heat gun to dry the dye. Buy a hairdryer! This will save time and your gun too. When your dyeing a lot of over spray is floating around and gets recirculated back through the gun. It will clog the gun up and ruin it. Using a hairdryer will save your gun from this and they blow harder anyway which dries the dyes quicker. You don’t run the risk of melting or bubbling your dyes like with a heat gun.

So the biggest things to look for when purchasing your next heat gun is variable heat settings, a cool down mode, accessibility to parts like elements, and really in my opinion is weight, the lighter guns are just a little easier to use. Don’t forget your reducer tip too, it will come in handy.

Hope this helps in your repairs with the few tips on the use of your heat gun and heating your repairs.

Heres you a few choices for heat guns and accessories:

Steinel SNL34850 IntelliTemp Heat Gun with LCD Temperature Display – 2010ESTEINEL heat guns have built a reputation for using state of the art technology to maximize precision and durability. Our new generation of heat guns incorporates exciting new features responding directly to ever increasing global requirements for rigorous, formalized quality control. Microprocessor controlled heat gun with LCD display enabling temperature selection in 10 degrees Fahrenheit increments. STEINEL’s exclusive DuraTherm heating element ensures long life and even heat. Temperature: Continuously variable 120 – 1150 degrees Fahrenheit Airflow: 3.6 / 10.6 / 17.6 CFM Switch: 1) Cool Air (120 degrees Fahrenheit / 3.6 CFM), 2) Var Temp/10.6 CFM, 3) Var Temp/17.6 CFM Output: 1500 watts Voltage: 120 VAC / 60 Hz Weight: 30 oz Warranty: Full One Year Accessories Accepts a full range of nozzles and accessories.

Wagner Digital Heat Gun, Model# HT3500Digital touchpad with LED indicators. Great for paint removal, loosening rusted bolts, thawing pipes and more. Watts: 1,500, BTU Output: 5,100, Heat Settings: 12, Temperature Capacity (F): 250 – 1,350 2 fan speeds Cool setting cools down gun and automatically shuts off Ergonomic handle with hanging eyelet

Milwaukee Variable Temperature Heat Gun with Digital Temp Display, Model# 8988-20Required CFM: 7.06, 8.83, 15.89, Heat Settings: Variable, Temperature Capacity (F): 90 – 1,100 Independent controls for temperature and air flows Digiatal display for temperature settings Three controlled air volumes allow you to match the air speed to your application Removable air filter keeps debris out Ceramic encapsulated heating element for maximum tool life One hand operation with lightweight and easy grip handle Upright stationary use with pads on back cap and lower handle

9Mm Reduction Nozzle For Steinel Electronic Heat Guns? Provides a precisely concentrated stream of hot air. Used for welding or soldering. ? Can be used as a base for specialized attachments such as the SNL07091 Plastic Welding Attachement. ? Precision formed from high-grade, polished stainless steel for superior performance and reliability. ? Note: For use on Steinel electronic heat guns only.By Steinel.

Master Appliance 750-1000deg Heavy Duty Heat Gun 120v 14.5am (Sold Individually)CASE PACK: Sold Individually DETAILS: Powerful high speed universal motor Sturdy die cast housing Adjustable non-slip stand Use to bend plastics, cure adhesives, dry parts, heat parts, shrink tubing and packaging, strip paint and more *Operating Temp. = 750 deg F Min , 1000 deg F Max *Voltage = 120.00 VAC *Frequency = 60.0 Hz *Amps = 14.50 A *Watts = 1740.00 W *Flow = 23.0 CFM *Velocity = 3000 ft/min *Fan Speed = Single *Length = 9 in *Width = 5.200 in *Height = 10.100 in *Outlet Size = 1 in *Cord Length = 6 ft *Control Type = Variable Temperature, Switch (3 Pos-Off/On/Heat) *Handle Type = Pistol Grip *Type = Heat Gun *Wt. = 3.70 lb UL listed UPC: 635705101099

Bosch 1942 Heat GunThe Bosch Heat Gun features: *14.3 Amps, 750-1000F *Powerful blower Provides a high volume of air needed for industrial applications *Air intake regulator Adjusts the temperature to the requirements of the job *Cool air setting For cooling tool and for no-heat applications, adds versatility *Insulated nozzle Protects operator, provides a cool exterior temperature *Padded, adjustable stand Allows stationary use with multi-position holder *Multiple uses Strip paint, shrink tubing or packaging, heat liquids, loosen fittings, soften caulking and surface finishes, thaw pipes *Range of accessories Adapts tool for specific uses in building trades, industrial applications, and laboratory work Includes: *Heat Gun – 1942