Removing nibs in factory paint

[tguil]

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

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

[Audios S6]

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/mediawe...66SEGcCOrrrrQ-

[tguil]

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.

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

[tguil]

(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

[Ron Meadows]

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...

(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