Feb. 12, 2013—The Certified Automotive Parts Association (CAPA) stressed the importance of galvanization on sheet metal parts commonly used for collision repairs during the winter driving season.
Galvanization is the process of applying a layer of zinc over the sheet steel to protect the metal beneath it from corrosion and rust. For replacement parts, the presence of galvanization dramatically improves corrosion resistance and the life expectancy of parts.
In a recent study of non-CAPA certified parts, CAPA found that six out of seven non-CAPA sheet metal parts tested were made of non-galvanized material.
“A repair performed using a non-galvanized part may look great leaving the shop, but when the underlying metal begins to rust, the owner is going to be very dissatisfied with the quality of the shop’s work,” said Jack Gillis, executive director of CAPA. “Because there is no easy way to tell if a sheet metal part is made of galvanized material, using a CAPA certified sheet metal part means the part was actually tested for galvanization as part of the certification process.”
CAPA requires all of its sheet metal parts to be galvanized even if the OEM brand part is not.
