Removing nibs in factory paint

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tguil

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I thought that I might as well post on this forum too. (Mike, I hope you see this.) I want as many opinions as possible before doing anything. I don't want to mess up. I have a new white Ram pickup. There are very small paint nibs in several places in the factory paint. You need very good lighting to see them largely because my truck is white. I didn't see the nibs until I was working on it's first detail. My plan is to use a Meguiar's Unigrit Finesse Block on one of the nibs to see what happens. Then move on if it comes out OK. I've removed nibs before but not on factory paint. This truck is pretty much garage queen so I am not too concerned about removing a small spot of clear coat right at the sharp point of the nib. Any suggestions or advice would b appreciated. Yes, I am darn fussy about my vehicles, but aren't we all.

Tom :cool:
 
Pics would get you the most replies FYI. Post some up and im sure someone could help you further.
 
Soak the Meguiar's Sanding Blocks in water till they sink, this is a sign they are saturated with water.

Dress the edges on one end, normally the end opposite of the colored end used to identify the block. Dressing the edges means to trim the sharp, squared up sides so they are rounded. You can use a number of things to do this, I usually use the fingernail on my thumb but any object will work, course sandpaper, knife, file, etc.

Stand the block on end on top of the dirt nib and then twist it or move it in a circular motion. You can do a back and forth motion if you have good hand dexterity.

The idea is to only sand on the top of the dirt nib till it's level with the surrounding paint and then buff out your sanding marks.

We used the Meguiar's sanding blocks on Jay's trucks to remove dirt nibs and runs, they work awesome.


:xyxthumbs:
 
Thanks, Mike. Just checked...we go back a long way...Meguiar's Online, February, 2004; Detail City, May 2003; Autopia, May 2003. I am still a bit of a perfectionist. Maybe I should buy my casket now to make sure that it is properly detailed. :D

Tom :cool:
 
RhetoricMixes said:
Pics would get you the most replies FYI. Post some up and im sure someone could help you further.
Click to expand...
My point and shoot camera wouldn't pick them up. They're pretty darn small..
Tom :cool:
 
tguil said:
Thanks, Mike. Just checked...we go back a long way...Meguiar's Online, February, 2004; Detail City, May 2003; Autopia, May 2003. I am still a bit of a perfectionist. Maybe I should buy my casket now to make sure that it is properly detailed. :D

Tom :cool:
Click to expand...


That's right, we've been typing and talking to one another for over 8 years now via discussion forums...

Over the years I've always typed and said that "I'm in this for the long run" while I've met a lot of people that come and go... but for the record...


I'm in this for the long run...

That's why occasionally when problem people come along you just have to learn to take the high road as my old Manager at Meguiar's use to tell me during the NXT vs Zaino wars, of which I'm a veteran. :D



Didn't you also attend my Roadshow Class at Jimmy Buff-it's Detail Shop circa 2006 or 2007?


:dblthumb2:
 
Oh yeah...

After you started this thread yesterday it reminded me we used the Meguiar's Unigrit Sanding Blocks a lot when we wetsanded Jay's Blazer as it had a few runs here and there. I extracted a few pictures from the 300 to 400 pictures taken from that project and created a how-to article for the block here,


How to use Meguiar's Unigrit Sanding Blocks to remove runs and dirt nibs in paint

MegsSandingBlock003.jpg





:)
 
I missed the class at Jimmy Buff-it's. Planned to go, but plans didn't work. What's Zaino? :D

Tom :cool:
 
OK... a couple of nibs on curved surfaces. Very small nibs. Glue a piece of 2000 Unigrit paper on small eraser?

Tom :cool:
 
Re: Removing nibs in factory paint (Still need some help...3/8/12)

tguil said:
OK... a couple of nibs on curved surfaces. Very small nibs. Glue a piece of 2000 Unigrit paper on small eraser?

Tom :cool:
Click to expand...

The Unigrit Block are working fine on the flat surfaces. I still need some advice before I tackle a few on some curved surfaces. I know that the Unigrit blocks can be shaped but I don't I have the "talent" to do that.

The sanding marks seem to buff out OK with Ultimate Compound.

Tom :cool:
 
Re: Removing nibs in factory paint (Still need some help...3/8/12)

tguil said:
The Unigrit Block are working fine on the flat surfaces. I still need some advice before I tackle a few on some curved surfaces. I know that the Unigrit blocks can be shaped but I don't I have the "talent" to do that.

The sanding marks seem to buff out OK with Ultimate Compound.

Tom :cool:
Click to expand...

Part 2: I do have 3M Finesse-It Nib Eliminator Discs (1 3/8" wet-or-dry 1500 grit with a scalloped edge to eliminate edge cutting). They fit on a 1-inch diameter Foam Nib Sanding Block. The foam block does have a bit of "give" to it. Might this be a solution to leveling the nibs on a curved surface?

If I use the these 1500 grit discs will I need 105 Compound to remove the sanding marks?

Thanks.

Tom :cool:
 
Those 3M discs are meant to be used on their dust nibber - it's a glorified pneumatic angle grinder for around $250. That system was originally designed for nib correction at the factory.

The guy that does the factory training for 3M did a couple spots on my car a few years ago. He used the nibber, 3M trizact 1" discs (they were purple, PSA backed, came on a roll and about 3000 grit) and a wetsand type process. A couple sprays of water and the nibber at high rpm with quick movements. That's how 3M expects it to be done, but there are certainly some risks with that type of correction.

Hopefully this link is acceptable since AG sells many 3M product, although not this one. They do make soft backed #### pads for curved surfaces.

http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawebserver?6666660Zjcf6lVs6EVs66SEGcCOrrrrQ-
 
Got-r-done

Got all the nibs leveled...99-100%. I couldn't get Unigrit Blocks to work as well as I thought. It seems that I was working on a lot of surfaces with just a slight curve. I glued small round pieces of 1500 and 2000 Unigrit paper to the ends of new lead pencil erasers. I found that the 1500 grit paper worked the best to knock the nib down. Then I leveled the areas with small rectangular pieces of of Unigrit 2000 paper using a 3/4 inch by 1 inch rubber eraser as a sanding block. The leveled areas buffed out just fine with Ultimate Compound and a four-inch cutting pad on a Porter Cable 7424. No changes in the surrounding surfaces, just the usual Dodge orange peel.
biggrin.gif


I appreciate the help/suggestions that I got from lots of folks on several forums.

Looking back on it, I should have had the dealer's body shop "make it right". The shop manager talked me out it saying, if they worked on it it could come out worse. Really he probably meant "time is money" and he didn't want to mess with it even though it would have been warranty work. I spent over four hours leveling 34 dust nibs by hand. It would have taken a good tech with the right equipment less than an hour...but then, I'll bet that the guys in the shop aren't anywhere near as "particular" as I am.

Thanks again.

Tom :cool:
 
39 more dust nibs

(Also posted on Meguiar's Forum)

Yep, I was at it again. The first time around I did not pay all that much attention to the sides of the truck. A couple of weeks ago I was using Ultimate Wash and Wax for the first time so I was really looking the truck over carefully. 39 more nibs all on the sides of the truck. All but maybe five or six were pretty tiny flecks. Those five or six were not all that bad. This time I used my Meguiar's Unigrit Blocks. They worked great. I started with a few strokes of the 1500 block and followed up with the 2000 block. Again Ultimate Compound on a four-inch cutting pad took the sanding marks right out.

Lesson Learned: Even though I really like Ram Hemi's, I think this will be my last. I found a total of 79 dust nibs in this truck. (I took out a few between the last time I posted and now.)

As it is, even the most obsessive compulsive detailer would have a hard time finding evidence of those 79 nibs....thanks to the advice I got from this forum and a couple of other forums and thanks also to Meguiar's products.

Tom :cool:
 
Re: 39 more dust nibs

I love Dodge's too, but am absolutely disgusted with the paint job on my 2011 Challenger....it looks like a football texture wise and I haven't found a single panel on the car that has a spot with level clear coat.....I'd be embarrassed to put out a product that looked like this one does...


tguil said:
(Also posted on Meguiar's Forum)

Yep, I was at it again. The first time around I did not pay all that much attention to the sides of the truck. A couple of weeks ago I was using Ultimate Wash and Wax for the first time so I was really looking the truck over carefully. 39 more nibs all on the sides of the truck. All but maybe five or six were pretty tiny flecks. Those five or six were not all that bad. This time I used my Meguiar's Unigrit Blocks. They worked great. I started with a few strokes of the 1500 block and followed up with the 2000 block. Again Ultimate Compound on a four-inch cutting pad took the sanding marks right out.

Lesson Learned: Even though I really like Ram Hemi's, I think this will be my last. I found a total of 79 dust nibs in this truck. (I took out a few between the last time I posted and now.)

As it is, even the most obsessive compulsive detailer would have a hard time finding evidence of those 79 nibs....thanks to the advice I got from this forum and a couple of other forums and thanks also to Meguiar's products.

Tom :cool:
Click to expand...
 
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