New To Clay

[CAMMIN HEMI]

I've polished a few times in the past, but never used clay first. I wasn't even aware of it until a few years ago. Using my G100 to polish after washing and before waxing by hand. Now I'm retired, have a car I love and the time to detail correctly and intelligently. After reading about clay and the proper way to prep a vehicle here on AG I have been getting the products to do it right. The car was recently repaired in a body shop and is in need of polishing. There are a few small tiny nibs in the clear. Now I know this is a dumb question, but I cannot find an answer in the forum. Will the clay bar "pull" out the nibs and leave a crater or just glide over them? Should I lightly glide over them with the clay or totally avoid these spots? This forum is the greatest thing since sliced bread to an old car nut like me! The expert detailer advice and instructions by Mike Phillips are invaluable! Thank you all!!!

[jamesboyy]

Clay barring a paintwork will remove or shave in sense any contamination on the paintwork yes some of the contamination may leave craters in the paint but there so small that the naked eyes cannot see them and polishing, sealing, or waxing will fill in these unseen craters when you do clay you will wants enough lubrication so that the clay bar patty in your hand glides over the section you are working on also remember to neat the clay after two or three swipes across the paintwork lastly I would suggest you try traditional clay first so that you can see the contamination begin removed then move onto clay mitts, etc

[hernandez.art13]

Without looking at the nibs you say or at least pictures. To me they sound like "dirts" that got painted usually when shooting clear coat. There is a way to remove them or at least minimize them.

Can't say without seeing them in person. You would have to sand them to level them to the rest of the CC then buff out the sanding marks, but that is a whole other subject and I am not advising or recommending you do this.

You could take it back to the body shop that did the repairs and ask them to remove them for you since your car should have repairs matching the OEM finish.

So your saying that the repainted areas need to be clayed? How long ago was it repainted and what parts were repainted? Pictures are always helpful for me or other members to further assist you.

and no I don't think it would be wise to try and pull out the nibs if there dirts like I am thinking they are with clay. Clay has very minimal aggression if used the way it was designed to, but if you go really aggressive with clay you could cause more harm then good.

Good luck and feel free to ask away, :props:

Art

[CAMMIN HEMI]

Thanks Art! Before polishing out the swirls and scratches in the old and new paint I thought it should be clayed. It's been out of the shop for about 6 weeks. It had the front clip replaced, front fender, and driver door skin ( deer collision ). The rear quarter was color blended and the whole side clear coated ( including the roof aperture, a pillar and sail panel ). It was painted with BASF water base color and clear in a downdraft booth and baked at about 130. The fit and color match is good. Just the cut and buff needs a little final polishing. The nibs are few and small, not a big deal to me. I just want to polish out the scratches/swirls from their washing and compounding. I was afraid the clay would pull out the nibs. I want to leave them alone!
Thanks! John

[hernandez.art13]

Ahh gotcha, yeah that's why I asked because 6 weeks has not been to long and the paint might still be fresh because it hasn't fully cured yet. So claying the repainted parts most likely won't due anything. If done correctly, but it's always a good idea to be safe than sorry. Plus it might ruin any warranty that you might have with the body shop.

I am not familiar with BASF paint since I mostly worked with PPG and Dupont. So I am not sure what the manufacturers recommendation on sealing the paint wait time is, (sealant, wax, coating etc.. )

So what I am thinking is why not wait until the recommended cure time is up and then proceed with polishing what the body shop left behind so you can properly seal the paint. I believe PPG is about 3 months, so if it was PPG then you would just have 6 more weeks to go. Not to bad IMO

Your best bet would be to call the body shop and have them ask the painter and call the paint manufacturer too. Just to be safe.

Also I am still not understanding this so help me out. The repainted parts need to be clayed? Are they embedded contaminants or overspray?

[hernandez.art13]

Here is a story of why I say it would be a good idea to wait. Or call the body shop.

Years back when I had first became the body shop "buffer" The painter didn't tell me he messed up while shooting paint. So what he did was just shoot the paint over uncured paint to mask whatever he messed up on.

Well he didn't tell me this, and this paint was super gummy, almost felt like play doe. Well I sanded like normal to remove the repainted orange peel to match the OEM finish. I'd like to add that the car was painted the day before btw lol. So 6 weeks you mostly won't run into this problem :D

Well I could not remove those sanding marks and it was 3,000 grit sanding by the way on the Dewalt, 3M wool pad and 3M rubbing compound. Plus it was summer in Perris, CA so 100+ degrees inside the shop.

Well in the end it had to get repainted due to my user error lol (burned through)

My main uncle the owner got mad at me, but the my other uncle the manager talked to me and told me the painter should have told me from the very beginning BEFORE I started working on it. On what he did and how the condition of the paint was. I was still new to being a "buffer" so I was still learning.

I am not saying that your paint is like this, just trying to give you an idea of a worse case scenario.

This was about 5 years ago and I still remember, it was a white pearl with 3 stage paint.

Base coat
Pearl
Clear Coat

[CAMMIN HEMI]

The shop advised 30 days before waxing, so it's time! The swirls and scratches are just waiting to be polished out. I thought starting out with a test spot using my PC 7335 and M205 on a LC CCS white pad would be a good combo to try first. I can always go more aggressive. After being in the shop and from what I've learned here, I just assumed clay would be needed first on the whole car. I was afraid the clay might pull out a nib in the clear a leave a crater. All I want to do is properly prepare the paint for polishing and waxing. The nibs can stay as I think messing with them would be risky for someone just getting serious about detailing. I'm turning in to what Mike calls a "perfectionist detailer", help!!!
THANKS!!!
John

[CAMMIN HEMI]

Am I just over thinking this?

[hernandez.art13]

Am I just over thinking this?

Probably and now we are too :hungry: :laughing: