Well-known throughout Maine as a shop that specializes in Porsche, Audi, Volkswagen, and Mazda, Morong Body Shop in Falmouth recently acquired their second Blowtherm paint booth to continue its legacy. Since 1953, Morong Body Shop has been performing collision repairs on these four brands with a tight crew and that focuses on quality.
Morong Falmouth Body Shop
Locations: Falmouth, ME
(207) 523-8740
www.morong.com
Company At A Glance...
Type: Collision Repair
Facility Employees: Five
In Business Since: 1953
Number of Locations: One
Production Space: 3,500 square feet
After carefully vetting most of the other paint booths on the market, Brandt Hatala Shop Manager, knew he would stick with Blowtherm. “We have moved several times over the years, and the paint booth in one of our former locations was a Blowtherm unit that was installed in the late 1980s,” he said. “You can’t beat that kind of life expectancy from a piece of equipment that was used on a daily basis for all those years. So, we knew about Blowtherm’s track record and it was impressive, so it made the decision a lot easier. When you purchase a booth, you expect it to last for a long time and perform at a high level, and that’s exactly what we get with our Blowtherm.”
Two of the most notable benefits that the Morong crew have experienced since acquiring their second Blowtherm booth include increased productivity and the fact that they were able save money by switching over to a natural gas burner system. “We are so much more efficient now because we are using less energy and getting a much better bake cycle,” says the Body Shop manager. “It’s a more even heat source and the finished product is always excellent.”
The paint jobs that Morong Body Shop is creating on a consistent basis tie in neatly with their mantra---“When we are done, it shouldn’t just look good; it should look like an accident never occurred at all.”
The booth’s installation process was seamless and drama-free with the help of their distributor Mike Hites at Autoquip out of Newmarket, NH. It also gave them the opportunity to become a greener business during the same time. “We purchased a pretty universal Blowtherm booth that allowed us to switch over to waterborne paint easily,” Hatala said. “The installation was planned out ahead of time and worked out very well with our schedule. The development process evolved around the importance of us being able to use the existing footprint that the existing paint booth was sitting on. It was critical for us to minimize any remodeling expenses in order to keep costs down and stay within our budget. Blowtherm had a model available that fit the space perfectly with minimal building modification, which was great. Even the existing blower unit venting stack was able to be used with some minor sheet metal modifications.”
Morong’s is delighted with every aspect of their new Blowtherm booth; from the quality of the equipment to the strong support they receive from their authorized Blowtherm USA Distributor. “Mike Hites is always on top of it, and that makes all of our lives so much easier. If we ever have a question, he is right there with the correct answer and most everything can be solved with just a phone call. I tell people it’s a great partnership---Blowtherm is an amazing product and Autoquip’s customer support is outstanding! You need both factors when it comes to a major investment like a paint booth and we are getting both.”
A bit of history… their story began when the VW Beetle became popular in the United States in the early 1950s. “We were a body shop first that later became a dealership,” Hatala said. “One day, the managers here saw the new VW bug and were so impressed, they inquired about selling them and that’s how it started. Today, we are the second oldest family-owned VW dealership in the United States.”
Morong’s runs a tight crew in their Body Shop, with a painter, a body man, and an assistant, in addition to their single downdraft Blowtherm paint booth acting as the fourth member of their team.
Since the VW dealership was founded in 1954, they’ve expanded their Porsche dealership in 1955; the Audi brand in 1970; and Mazda’s brands in 1976. “Customer experience and exceeding customer expectations is vital to our business, and has been the key to the success for Morong over the last 65 years.”
The plan at Morong Body Shop is to eventually expand to accommodate more volume in the near future which will involve moving their Blowtherm booth into the new space. “Before the end of the year, we will open our new Porsche dealership on our campus here in Falmouth. The hope is that we can expand the body shop into a larger space as it becomes available within our dealership. The future at Morong Body Shop looks bright and with our Blowtherm paint booth in the mix, it looks even brighter,” explains the Body Shop manager.
Blowtherm USA & Training Center
810 No. Grove Road
Richardson, TX 75081
(855) 463-9872 or (262) 269-6265
sales@blowtherm-usa.com
www.blowtherm-usa.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/people/Blowtherm-USA/100047363546123
To read more auto body shop profiles in the October 2022 Shop and Product Showcase, click here.
