The Honda Body Repair Manual And Sectioning Guideline Revisions and Acura Body Repair Manual And Sectioning Guideline Revisions documents have been updated. These new guidelines supersede any prior publications.

Some of these changes include:

• An easy-to-use chart that provides specific spot welding information for 1,500 MPa ultra-high-strength-steel (UHSS) parts.
• A description and diagram of the 1,500 MPa UHSS (hot stamping) welding conditions. There are illustrations and directions that state important information when welding this type of steel. Specifically, that the aluminum coating will need to be removed from the weld zone.

• The Use Of Heat During Body Straightening and Repair area has been refined to specify what heat methods are approved and up to what temperature can be used.
• A statement has been added to the Partial panel Replacement At Factory Seams area of the document. This statement includes that the partial part replacement guidelines do NOT apply to UHSS assemblies, and that assemblies from 980-1,500 MPa should be replaced as a "complete set."

One major piece of information that has been added to these documents is guidelines for Outer Body Panels, and All Panels sectioning. In the All Panels area, Honda and Acura give specific directions on where sectioning is prohibited and conditions that need to be met in order to section a part that is 780 MPa or less. However, "If any of the above sectioning conditions cannot be met, replace those body structural components as assemblies that match the replacement parts configuration."

Some questions that Ask I-CAR has been receiving about the outer panels, is what to do when a service part arrives for the outer uniside, but it is too short and cannot be welded at the specified location? Well, Honda and Acura have included a solution in this document that states: "If proper panel fit-up cannot be achieved, a 40 mm backing panel may be used."

These bulletins are also available free at: techinfo.honda.com

For additional Honda/Acura information, check out the following pages:
Honda OEM Information
Acura OEM Information

Additional I-CAR Collision Repair News you may find helpful:
Collision Information Website Access: Honda/Acura
Honda/Acura Introduces Their Steel Usage and Repairability Matrix
Step-By-Step: Accessing Honda And Acura Repair Information

Related I-CAR Courses

Course Full-Frame/Unitized Structure Pulling Overview

Course Introduction to Squeeze-Type Resistance Spot Welding

Course Measuring, Anchoring, and Pulling Strategies Hands-On Skills Development

Course Sectioning Overview

Course Sectioning Scenarios