ASE B3
NON-STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS
AND DAMAGE REPAIR
Master outer body panel repair, metal finishing, body filling, moveable glass, and plastics to conquer the B3 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 B3 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 B3 Sample Flashcards
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ASE B3 Test Overview
What to expect on exam day: question counts, timing, and how the scored questions break down by task area.
Required every 5 years
ASE B3 Task List
Every task the ASE B3 exam can cover, organized by the six official task areas.
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A. Preparation
- Review damage report and replacement parts for accuracy. Inspect for prior damage and repairs. Inspect for proper systems operation and/or deactivation. Verify coating thickness.
- Identify potential health, safety, and environmental concerns associated with vehicle components and systems, i.e. ABS, air bags (SRS), ADAS, refrigerants, high voltage, coolants.
- Research and determine repair plan, locate procedures; build data, materials, and methods of overall repairs in accordance with the vehicle manufacturer's specifications and accepted industry procedures (including calibration/initialization of advanced vehicle systems).
- Position vehicle to perform repairs; lift, raise, or support if necessary.
- Remove damaged or undamaged interior and exterior trim and moldings/claddings as necessary; document missing, broken, or one-time use parts/fasteners/components; store removed parts/fasteners/components.
- Remove and store undamaged, non-structural body panels and components; remove and store mechanical/electrical components that may interfere with or be damaged during the repair process.
- Check for malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) illumination; scan all control modules and retrieve diagnostic trouble codes (DTC), data, and settings; identify battery disconnect procedures.
- Protect panels and parts adjacent to repair area to prevent damage during repair.
- Remove dirt, grease, wax, and other contaminants from areas to be repaired.
- Remove pinstripes, emblems and decals (transfers/overlays and other paint protection accessories); remove adhesives if necessary.
- Remove corrosion protection, undercoatings, sealers, and other protective coatings as necessary to perform repairs.
- Remove repairable plastics and other parts for off-vehicle repair.
- Identify safety precautions: i.e., personal protection equipment (PPE), shock hazards, fumes, safety data sheet (SDS), etc. before beginning any repair operation.
- Perform high-voltage disconnect procedure; reconnect/enable high-voltage system after repairs are completed.
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B. Outer Body Panel Repairs, Replacements, and Adjustments
- Determine the extent of the direct (primary), indirect (secondary), and inertia damage; determine the direction of impact; plan the methods and order of repair.
- Remove and replace bolted, riveted, adhesively bonded, and welded panels or panel assemblies.
- Identify the body panel substrate (high-strength steel, aluminum, magnesium, composite, etc.); determine the extent of damage for reparability or replacement.
- Remove, reinstall or replace, and adjust/align hood, hood supports, hood hinges, and hood latch/lock.
- Remove, reinstall or replace, and adjust/align deck lid, lid hinges, tailgates, hatches, supports, liftgates supports, and lid latch/lock; perform initialization.
- Remove, reinstall or replace and adjust/align doors, latch/lock assemblies, handles, and hinges; perform initialization.
- Remove, reinstall or replace, and adjust/align bumpers, brackets, reinforcements, guards, absorbers, isolators, and mounting hardware.
- Remove, reinstall or replace and adjust/align front fenders; check and adjust gaps and clearances.
- Remove, reinstall or replace and adjust/align exterior lighting and mounting panels.
- Check outer body panel function, adjust as necessary for proper operation.
- Restore contours of a damaged panel to a surface condition suitable for metal finishing or body filling.
- Weld cracked or torn metal body panels.
- Apply protective coatings to restore corrosion protection.
- Remove damaged body panels; replace panels using a weld, weld-bond, adhesively bonded, rivet, rivet bond, or other fastening procedures.
- Repair door frame, repair or replace door skins; inspect intrusion beams.
- Restore seam sealers, mastic, sound deadeners, and foam fillers.
- Diagnose and repair water leaks, dust leaks, wind noise, squeaks, rattles, and vibrations.
- Install interior and exterior trim, pinstripes, emblems, decals (transfers/overlays, vapor barriers), and protective film.
- Perform initialization and calibration; test drive to achieve set conditions and scan computer systems as needed to verify proper system operation following outer body panel repair, replacement, or adjustment.
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C. Metal Finishing and Body Filling
- Remove paint and other coatings from the damaged area of a body panel.
- Heat-shrink stretched panel areas to proper contour.
- Cold-shrink stretched panel areas to proper contour.
- Metal-finish the damaged area of a body panel to eliminate surface irregularities.
- Identify the considerations and procedures for preparing the surface for application of body filler material.
- Mix, apply, and shape body filler material.
- Sand cured body filler material to contour.
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D. Glass and Hardware
- Inspect, adjust, remove and/or replace moveable, electrically heated, stationary, mechanically fastened, bonded, and hinged glass.
- Inspect, adjust, repair, or replace window regulators, run channels, power mechanisms, and related controls. Reset automatic features and clear stored codes if necessary.
- Inspect, adjust, repair, and remove or replace power glass roof panels and related controls. Reset automatic features and clear stored codes if necessary.
- Diagnose and repair water leaks, dust leaks, wind noises; rattles, and vibrations; inspect, repair, or replace weatherstripping.
- Inspect, adjust, and install convertible or retractable roof and related mechanisms. Reset automatic features and clear stored codes if necessary.
- Scan computer systems and verify proper system operation following stationary glass removal or replacement.
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E. Welding, Cutting, and Removal
- Identify weldable and non-weldable materials used in vehicle construction.
- Identify the considerations and procedures for cutting, removing, and welding various types of steels, aluminum, and other metals.
- Determine the correct welding process to be used in specific welding situations: compression/inverter/squeeze type resistance spot (STRSW), GTAW (TIG), GMAW (MIG), MIG-brazing; determine settings, electrode, wire type, diameter, gas, and bonding material to be used in specific welding processes.
- Adjust the welding equipment for proper operation.
- Perform test welds. Visually inspect, perform destructive test, and make adjustments as necessary.
- Determine proper work clamp (ground) location.
- Use the proper gun-to-joint angle, distance, speed, and direction of gun travel for welds being made in all positions.
- Select proper STRSW arm set, electrode type and diameter, and settings based on the location and material to be welded.
- Protect vehicle components (adjacent components, hybrid/high voltage components, computers and other electronic modules) from possible damage caused by welding, cutting, and drilling; remove as necessary.
- Prepare the metal to be welded; ensure proper weld joint fit-up; apply weld through primer if required.
- Select and prepare the correct joint type (butt, lap, etc.) for the repair.
- Identify and perform the correct type of weld (continuous, stitch, tack, plug, spot, slot, etc.) for each specific welding operation.
- Identify the causes of weld defects; perform required equipment maintenance and/or make necessary adjustments.
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F. Plastic Repair
- Identify the types of plastic(s) or composite(s); determine repairability.
- Identify the proper plastic or composite repair/cleaning procedures; clean and prepare the surfaces of plastic or composite parts for repair.
- Reshape plastic parts.
- Repair plastic parts by welding or using adhesive repair materials; repair composite parts using adhesive repair materials; use reinforcing materials as required.
- Perform single or two-sided repairs in plastic or composite panels.
- Replace bonded plastic or composite body panels; straighten or align mounting locations.
- Replace mechanically fastened plastic or composite body panels; straighten or align mounting locations if necessary; torque fasteners to specifications.
ASE B3 Key Terminology
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ASE B3 Questions, Answered
The things candidates ask most about the B3 test, answered straight.
The ASE B3 Non-Structural Analysis and Damage Repair 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.
It does. Plastic Repair is its own content area and the first task in it is identifying the plastic or composite and deciding whether it is repairable. The quickest check in the bay is the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) code molded into the back of the part, usually near a rib or a mounting tab: PP, TPO, TEO, TPE, PUR, ABS and so on. When there is no code, a grind test tells you the family, because a thermoplastic smears while a thermoset powders. That answer drives everything after it: thermoplastics can be welded while thermosets must be repaired with adhesive, and low surface energy plastics such as TPO need an adhesion promoter before anything will stick.
Welding, Cutting, and Removal is 12 of the 55 scored questions, a bigger block than most candidates plan for. You are expected to tell weldable from non-weldable materials, pick the process for the situation among squeeze type resistance spot welding (STRSW), Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW, commonly called MIG), MIG brazing and Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW, commonly called TIG), and set wire type and diameter, gas and machine settings to match. Beyond settings it covers work clamp placement, gun angle, distance, travel speed and direction in every position, joint type and fit-up, weld-through primer, test welds checked destructively, and reading a bad weld back to the cause that made it.
Outer Body Panel Repairs, Replacements, and Adjustments, at 17 of the 55 scored questions, close to a third of the test. The rest runs Welding, Cutting, and Removal at 12, Metal Finishing and Body Filling at 8, Preparation at 7, Plastic Repair at 6 and Glass and Hardware at 5. The panel area is deliberately broad. It runs from reading direct, indirect and inertia damage and planning the order of repair, through removing and replacing bolted, riveted, adhesively bonded and welded panels, to hanging and aligning hoods, doors, deck lids, fenders and bumpers, checking gaps and clearances, repairing door skins and inspecting intrusion beams, then chasing water leaks, wind noise, squeaks and rattles afterward.
Yes, in several places, and it is a common point loss because it is easy to treat as an afterthought. Applying protective coatings to restore corrosion protection is a task in its own right inside the panel area, restoring seam sealers, mastic, sound deadeners and foam fillers is another, and removing the existing corrosion protection, undercoating and sealers to get at the repair is listed back in Preparation. The idea the test keeps returning to is that any operation which cuts, grinds, welds or drills a panel destroys the factory corrosion protection at that spot, and the repair is not finished until the coating system is put back the way the vehicle maker specifies.
More than the title of the test suggests. Preparation includes checking for an illuminated Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL), scanning all control modules, retrieving Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTC) and identifying the battery disconnect procedure before work starts. It also includes identifying hazards tied to the Antilock Brake System (ABS), the Supplemental Restraint System (SRS), Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), refrigerants, coolants and high voltage, and performing a high voltage disconnect and reconnect when the vehicle calls for one. On the back end, several panel and glass tasks finish with initialization, calibration or a scan to prove the system still works. Treat the pre-scan and the post-scan as part of the repair, not as paperwork.
Eight scored questions, and they favor sequence and judgment over product names. The tasks are removing coatings from the damaged area, heat shrinking and cold shrinking a stretched panel back to contour, metal finishing out the surface irregularities, preparing the surface for filler, mixing, applying and shaping the filler, then sanding it to contour. Two ideas carry most of the questions. First, filler is a surfacing material over metal that has already been straightened properly, never a substitute for straightening, so a question about a thick fill is usually a question about the metal work underneath. Second, heat is a real risk on modern panels, so how much and for how long depends on the substrate and on the maker's procedure.
Five scored questions, and the line that catches people out is that ASE B3 owns the movable glass while fixed, bonded glass belongs to ASE B4. Here you are inspecting, adjusting, removing and replacing movable, electrically heated, mechanically fastened and hinged glass, along with window regulators, run channels, power mechanisms and their controls. Power glass roof panels and convertible or retractable roofs and their mechanisms are in the same area. Weatherstripping and the diagnosis of water leaks, dust leaks, wind noise, rattles and vibrations sit here too. Several of these tasks end with resetting automatic features and clearing stored codes, so a window that runs but no longer knows its own stops is not a finished job.