Collision Repair & Restoration Articles

Penn College students and faculty get a look at a 1969 Shelby GT500 Mustang convertible, with drag pack, owned by local collector and businessman Ronald Paulhamus. Automotive restoration students surround a true classic that recently arrived at the college from the Rolls-Royce Foundation Museum in Carlisle.

Enter Sandmen: Education doesn't get more hands-on than rubbing away rust and other imperfections. Kelvin A. Ortiz, a collision repair student from York (left) and Colin S. Geiger, an automotive technology major from Sunbury, prep the Lincoln for its ultimate cherry-and-white finish. Kelvin A.

The Gettysburg Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America has established a scholarship that will provide annual financial assistance to students in Pennsylvania College of Technology’s two-year automotive restoration technology major.

A vintage automobile has been given to Pennsylvania College of Technology by a Centre County resident who used it to commute to classes at a predecessor institution 50 years ago. Galen Mellott, of Port Matilda, who attended Williamsport Technical Institute for toolmaking technology from 1962-64, donated a 1940 Ford for use by students in the college’s automotive restoration technology major.

There’s a new serviceman in the collision repair lab at Pennsylvania College of Technology. Working alongside students and faculty, he’s become just one of the gang. “Jesse” (his full name is Jesse James, of Wild West fame) is the service dog of Alfred M. Thomas II, associate professor of collision repair.

A caravan of vintage vehicles moves along Hagan Way, en route to the Parkes Automotive Technology Center. Students surround a 1982 Mercedes-Benz 380SL, owned by AACA member Bill Seely, of Mechanicsburg (second from left). An automotive student effortlessly lands a "ringer" during a recreational break from classes Friday.

Students have already removed some of the chrome in preparation for repainting; the nearby Millionaires football helmet offers a preview of the car's eventual color. From left, Pat Dixon, Christopher H. Van Stavoren and Greg Hayes outline the work to be done on a donated Lincoln. A blue 1979 Lincoln Continental Mark V has arrived in College Avenue Labs, where students of Alfred M.

Levers more reflective of boat-building than automobile manufacturing lend a nautical touch to the dashboard. A strange visitor from decades past, the Verrill Wolf Wagon awaits offload outside the Parkes Automotive Technology Center. The six front headlights will illuminate students' view of automotive history.

Chief Automotive Technologies' Jim Wrigley conducts a session in a College Avenue Labs classroom. Tips on paintless auto-body repair Metalworking is among the skills honed in the collision repair lab. Penn College instructor Roy H. Klinger schools participants on forming sheet-metal panels.

The editor of Mopar Muscle and Mopar Now magazines visited Penn College this past week, meeting with faculty and touring automotive and collision repair laboratories.