Albert Bennett is the third generation at Bert Bennett Panel Centre in WA. His career has got off to a flying start.
lbert has grown up with cars and tools and his focus on attention to detail is outstanding. Albert is a first-year apprentice panel tech who started out in February 2021. His role includes disassembling and assembling of automotive vehicles, maintaining a safe and clean working environment, and reading and understanding assembly instructions. Albert shows interest in the management side of the family business and is learning how to quote vehicles for repair.
Albert is achieving well beyond the expectations of a first-year apprentice. As an eighteen-year-old who completed year 12 in 2020, Albert has advanced from repairing small dents to repairing and replacing beaver panels and turrets. He is also adept at removing and replacing radiator support panels and the required removal and replacement of radiators, condensers and surrounding parts. He is also experienced in replacing quarter panels and sides.
Albert is showing great aptitude for his trade, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, as the third generation Albert Bennett currently working in the business. The family association with vehicles stretches back a long way. Albert’s grandfather, Albert, established the business in the 1960s, his great-grandfather, Albert, worked on vehicles for the Australian army in Papua New Guinea in the 1940s and his great-great-grandfather, also Albert, hand-painted ornate art lines on coaches.
Studying panel beating at South Metropolitan TAFE at the Carlisle campus, Albert has the opportunity to attend WA’s major centre for automotive and panel beating studies.
Albert has a keen interest in technology and uses any spare money to upgrade his toolbox. He is curious about electric vehicles and advances in battery technology. He is interested in the changes for repairers as car makers increasingly invest in electric cars. He is using the Car-O-Liner Evo 3 bench with online measuring. Albert has a particular interest in calibrating and aiming advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) including aiming cameras and checking for diagnostic trouble codes, as there is increasing need for technical expertise with scan tools following repairs.
Outside of work hours, Albert works to restore VL Commodores, having completed five out of seven vehicles so far. He is interested in restoring them back to original factory condition, without rust and with all the accessories listed on the build sheet. Lifting the carpet reveals the specification sheet from the factory. Rust around both windscreens and in the quarter panels requires slow methodical work, along with straightening out the metal damage and getting rid of old accumulated filler. It is also necessary to make up rust panels with folding and bending machines. Restoration requires cleaning and refurbishing original parts, sourcing missing parts, and painting back to original colour. These car restorations are labour intensive, but provide excellent opportunity for skills development.
Albert is also interested in woodwork and has a lathe for woodturning at home where he enjoys problem solving to craft pieces to showcase nature. He also attends gym after work most afternoons with his friends.