The Greenville Tech Foundation has received a specialty, synergic-pulsed welder from Fairway Ford to help the college’s Auto Body Repair program expand its training on aluminum intensive vehicles and alternative joining methods of body panels.
Aluminum vehicles and body parts have been around for many years, but the debut of the 2015 Ford F-150 -- the first all-aluminum, high production vehicle -- changed business as usual. The F-150 necessitates training of all technicians who wish to repair these vehicles correctly. Other manufacturers, such as Honda, require these specialty welders and procedures to properly join body panels made of high strength steels used in structural applications on their vehicles.
Fairway Ford’s donation of the Car-O-Liner 273i welder, valued at more than $10,000, gives Greenville Technical College the opportunity to train students on the specialty welding processes and materials that are required to join these specialty vehicle panels correctly. The machine serves as a dual purpose machine that will weld aluminum and these advanced steels that traditional welders cannot weld properly.
“Through generous donations such as this one, the Auto Body Repair program can continue to provide the latest training to the collision repair industry,” said Shane Isbell, department head for Transportation programs at Greenville Technical College. “We are grateful to Fairway Ford for partnering with us to ensure that we can teach the skills automotive employers need now.”
“By aligning with Greenville Technical College’s Auto Body Repair program, Fairway Ford is investing in the workforce and ensuring that graduates have the skills that today’s vehicles require,” said T.J. Whitt, Fairway’s body shop manager. “Cars and trucks are changing, and the knowledge needed must keep pace. Through this donation, we can help the college create well qualified graduates.”