ASE B2
Painting and Refinishing
Master surface preparation, spray gun operation, color matching, and paint defects to conquer the exam.
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ASE®, the ASE logo, and "ASE Certified" are registered trademarks of the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence. asecollisiontestprep.com is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by ASE. The patch shown above is the official credential issued by ASE to technicians who pass the ASE B2 exam, shown here for educational reference. Official certification can only be earned by passing the ASE exam at a Prometric test center.
Pay figures are illustrative and vary by experience, certification, location, employer, and flat-rate production. Per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024; 49-3021 Automotive Body and Related Repairers), median pay was $51,680 per year, with the lowest 10 percent earning under $36,390 per year (about $17 per hour, typical of entry-level or uncertified workers) and the top 10 percent earning over $87,040 per year. Experienced, ASE-certified collision technicians working flat rate in busy shops are among the top earners, where $65,000 to $100,000 or more is attainable. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, bls.gov.
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ASE B2 Sample Flashcards
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ASE B2 Test Overview
What to expect on exam day: question counts, timing, and how the scored questions break down across the six task areas.
Required every 5 years
ASE B2 Task List
Every task the ASE B2 exam can cover, organized by the six official task areas.
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A. Surface Preparation
- Identify and remove surface corrosion.
- Remove dirt, road grime, wax, adhesive residue, mold release agents, tree sap, markings or other contaminants from the area to be refinished and any adjacent vehicle surfaces.
- Inspect and identify substrate, substrate condition, type of finish, film thickness and surface condition; develop a plan for refinishing.
- Remove paint finish.
- Sand areas to be refinished.
- Featheredge areas to be refinished.
- Identify type of substrate and apply suitable treatment or undercoat.
- Mask and protect areas that will not be refinished.
- Mix and apply primer-surfacer.
- Apply finishing filler to minor surface imperfections.
- Block sand area to which primer-surfacer and/or finishing filler have been applied.
- Remove dust residue from area to be refinished.
- Clean area to be refinished using proper cleaning solutions.
- Remove, with a tack cloth, any dust or lint particles from the area to be refinished.
- Apply primer-sealer and/or adhesion promoter.
- Remove imperfections from primer-sealer.
- Prepare the adjacent areas for blending.
- Apply stone-chip resistant coating.
- Apply corrosion resistant coatings to repaired areas.
- Remove and apply decals, transfers, tapes, and pinstripes (painted and/or taped).
- Take appropriate measures to eliminate static electricity.
- Prepare surfaces for seam sealer application; evaluate the application of seam sealers prior to refinishing.
- Identify pin holes; determine the cause(s) and correct the condition.
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B. Spray Gun Operation and Related Equipment
- Inspect, clean, adjust, maintain, and determine condition of spray guns and adequacy of related equipment (air hoses, regulator, air lines, air source, filtration unit, and spray environment).
- Adjust spray gun, air pressure, fluid, and pattern control valves.
- Select correct spray gun, needle, fluid tip, and air cap for material being sprayed.
- Force-dry sprayed materials (bake, infrared, UV lamps, airflow, etc.).
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C. Paint Mixing, Matching, and Applying
- Determine the color, code, and type of finish on the vehicle.
- Identify paint color formula and the use of mixing equipment and materials.
- Mix, strain, and test viscosity (if necessary) of refinish material.
- Use appropriate spray gun technique (arc, angle, distance, speed, and spray pattern overlap) for the finish being applied.
- Apply selected product on test panel or let-down panel.
- Check color match; adjust as necessary.
- Apply basecoat or multi-stage (mica, pearl, etc.) coats for spot, panel, blending, and overall refinishing.
- Apply clearcoat.
- Refinish interior and exterior trim components.
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D. Solving Paint Application Problems
- Identify dirt or other foreign objects in the refinished surface; determine the source(s) and correct the condition.
- Identify a dry spray appearance in the refinished surface; determine the cause(s) and correct the condition.
- Identify the presence of fish-eyes (crater like appearance); determine the cause(s) and correct the condition.
- Identify lifting (surface distortion or wrinkling) of the refinished surface; determine the cause(s) and correct the condition.
- Identify mottling or streaking in metallic, mica, and effect paint finishes; determine the cause(s) and correct the condition.
- Identify excessive or lack of texture (orange peel); determine the cause(s) and correct the condition.
- Identify an overspray condition; determine the cause(s) and correct the condition.
- Identify sags and runs; determine the cause(s) and correct the condition.
- Identify color mismatch, due to application variables; determine the cause(s) and correct the condition.
- Identify tape tracking/marking; determine the cause(s) and correct the condition.
- Identify poor hiding/lack of coverage; determine the cause(s) and correct the condition.
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E. Finish Defects, Causes, and Cures
- Identify delamination (poor adhesion, peeling); determine the cause(s) and correct the condition.
- Identify finish cracking (crow's feet or line-checking, micro-checking, etc.); determine the cause(s) and correct the condition.
- Identify sags and runs in the refinished surface; determine the cause(s) and correct the condition.
- Identify blistering in the finished surface; determine the cause(s) and correct the condition.
- Identify water spotting on the finished surface; determine the cause and correct the condition.
- Identify finish damage caused by bird droppings, tree sap, and other causes; correct the condition.
- Identify finish damage caused by airborne contaminants (acids, soot, rail dust, chemicals, and other industrial-related causes); correct the condition.
- Identify chalking (oxidation); correct the condition.
- Identify bleed-through or staining; determine the cause and correct the condition.
- Identify damage caused during buffing/polishing painted surfaces; correct the condition.
- Identify film defects from too much or too little film build; determine the cause and correct the condition.
- Identify minor surface imperfections; determine the cause and correct the condition.
- Identify color coat blend issues; determine the cause(s) and correct the condition.
- Identify solvent popping; determine the cause(s) and correct the condition.
- Identify shrinking, swelling, or splitting while the finish is curing; determine the cause(s) and correct the condition.
- Identify die-back (dulling of the paint film); determine the cause(s) and correct the condition.
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F. Safety Precautions
- Identify and take necessary precautions with hazardous operations and materials.
- Identify and correct vehicle, equipment and material hazards to employee health and safety.
- Select personal protection equipment (PPE); inspect to insure fit, operation, and maintenance.
ASE B2 Key Terminology
Click any term below to reveal its exact definition.
ASE B2 Questions, Answered
The things candidates ask most about the B2 test, answered straight.
The ASE B2 Painting and Refinishing test has 65 questions in 90 minutes, about 83 seconds each. Only 55 count toward your score. The other 10 are unscored pilot questions ASE is trialling for future tests, and they are not marked on screen, so treat every question as if it counts. The recertification version is shorter: 28 questions in 45 minutes.
Of the 55 scored questions, Surface Preparation and Paint Mixing, Matching, and Applying carry 15 each, so those two areas alone are more than half the test. Solving Paint Application Problems carries 8. Spray Gun Operation and Related Equipment and Finish Defects, Causes, and Cures carry 6 each, and Safety Precautions carries 5. That weighting should decide how you spend your study time. A technician who can mix and spray but cannot explain featheredging, substrate treatment, film thickness or masking is leaving the largest single block of points on the table. Our free ASE B2 task list page lists every task inside each of those six content areas so you can study in the order the test is built.
Not as one question about tinting. Color work is spread across mixing, applying and problem solving. You are expected to find the color code and finish type on the vehicle, pull the formula, mix and strain the material, spray a test panel or let-down panel, then judge the match in proper light. The harder questions are about mismatch caused by application variables rather than by the formula: gun distance, air pressure, fluid delivery, flash time and film build all move a metallic or pearl lighter or darker. If you can explain why the same mixed color sprays light on one panel and dark on the next, that whole group of questions becomes straightforward.
Setup and condition, not brand names. The tasks cover selecting the correct gun, needle, fluid tip and air cap for the material being sprayed, adjusting air pressure along with the fluid and pattern control valves, and judging the condition of everything behind the gun: hoses, regulator, air lines, the air source, filtration and the spray environment itself. Force drying with bake cycles, infrared lamps, ultraviolet lamps and airflow sits in the same area. Expect questions that describe a bad pattern or a dry, rough finish and ask what you change first. Knowing that a fluid tip is sized to the material, and that air pressure at the gun is not the same as air pressure at the wall, answers a lot of them.
Yes, and the official study guide says so directly: the safety area is written around federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) minimums, with the note that states and cities may be stricter. Two rules sit behind much of what a paint shop does. The EPA area source rule for paint stripping and surface coating (40 CFR Part 63, Subpart HHHHHH) requires everyone who spray applies coatings to be trained and certified, with refresher training at least every five years, and requires High Volume Low Pressure (HVLP), electrostatic, airless, air-assisted airless or an approved equivalent at no less than 65 percent transfer efficiency. Because urethane products contain isocyanates, which give almost no warning by smell, OSHA points to supplied-air respirators for spray application.
ASE splits them into two separate content areas, and the distinction matters when you read a question. Application problems are faults you create at the gun or in the booth and normally catch while the job is still in your hands: dirt, dry spray, fisheyes, lifting, mottling, orange peel, overspray, sags and runs, tape tracking and poor hiding. Finish defects are failures of the cured film, often found much later: delamination, cracking, blistering, water spotting, chalking, bleed-through, solvent popping, die-back and buffing damage. Both areas ask the same three things in order: name the condition, state the cause, state the correction. Learning them as cause and cure pairs, rather than as a vocabulary list, is what moves the score.
Harder than most candidates expect. Surface Preparation is tied for the largest content area, and it starts well before any sanding. You are asked to identify the substrate, the existing finish, its condition and its film thickness, then plan the refinish from what you found. Inside the area are corrosion removal, cleaning off wax, road grime, sap and adhesive residue, featheredging, substrate-specific treatments and undercoats, masking, primer-surfacer, block sanding, finishing filler, sealer, adhesion promoter, stone-chip coatings, corrosion resistant coatings, seam sealer, and preparing the adjacent panel for a blend. Pinhole causes and controlling static are in there too. A question that looks like a paint question is very often asking what should have happened two steps earlier.
The ASE B2 test gives you 90 minutes for 65 questions, which is roughly 83 seconds each. The pacing is usually easier than that sounds, because many refinish items are recognition questions you either know or you do not. The time pressure comes from Technician A and Technician B items, where it is tempting to read both statements over and over. Read each statement on its own, decide true or false for that statement alone, then pick your answer. Ten of the 65 questions are unscored items ASE is trialling for future tests, and they are not marked on screen, so answer every one. Practicing in a timed, full length format is the only reliable way to learn your own pace.