How do I get rid of this?

DJsDetails

DJsDetails

New member
My girlfriend just got a new car with some defects from bugs on the front end. See attachment below. I currently only own an orbital and it is not touching this stuff. Can a DA or Rotary remove these defects or is it permanent? I know the acids eat the clear coat but I question the depth of these. I hope to find a solution. Thanks in advance for your advice
 

Attachments

  • '08 Liberty Defects 2.jpg
    '08 Liberty Defects 2.jpg
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try a polish by hand with a cotton cloth ... rub up and down and see if they budge. this will create heat and friction....your picture is dark, but they do seem to be etched in from what i can see. you may not get it all out but you should be able to get it better
 
Yeah I know lighting was difficult. What's lit up there though is my concern. Outside of the light has no defects. I've gone at it with my orbital, and by hand, using a terry with M-105 & M-205 to no avail.

I'm in the works up picking up a new DA and I'm hoping the higher speeds might be able help. Is this possibly true? How do you guys go about treating this when you find it on your clients' vehicles?
 
Had no luck with cotton cloth and polish. Went at a corner of the bumper, one little area, for an hour with very little change in overall appearance. I guess wetsanding is next.

If that doesn't do it, is there any way to add clear coat to fill in the etches and then buff down the excess to make it all one layer again?
 
DJsDetails said:
Had no luck with cotton cloth and polish. Went at a corner of the bumper, one little area, for an hour with very little change in overall appearance. I guess wetsanding is next.

If that doesn't do it, is there any way to add clear coat to fill in the etches and then buff down the excess to make it all one layer again?
Click to expand...

Did you polish by hand? a rotary or wet sanding sounds like the next steps, if you can feel these with your finger nail then its etched to that point
 
If you plan on buying a DA polisher soon I would hold out to see what kind of results you can get with that and a 3 or 4 inch pad before jumping to wet sanding. I'd reserve wet sanding as a last resort. Just my 2 cents.
 
Yes you can definitely feel these with your finger nail. They look like there's bug guts still on it but its actually the absence of the clear coat instead. And they are rather rough. It sucks that she got the car this way but we got a great deal on it. I'll have to look into a DA asap to get this taken care of.

Any feedback on the re-clearing idea? Is there a way to "spot" clear-coat an area, let it cure, and then wet sand/buff it back down to an even coat? I'm hoping that there is an Ace-in-the-Hole method to fall back on just incase the DA or wet sanding does not work.
 
I doubt you'd be able to "spot-clear" as you say and be happy with the results. My suggestion would be to either live with it when you've gone as far as you can with traditional fix methods or to have the panel resprayed by a reputable shop (or see what they could do in regards to repainting/blending/etc).

If this were mine, I'd probably just live with what I can't get out - which is exactly where I am at on my painted front bumper on my Tundra. with the exact same kind of bug-splatter etching you have.
 
Thanks guys I appreciate it. In due time I'll get it repainted. Knock on wood but maybe she'll bump somethin' so I have a reason to repaint it.
 
They look like love bug remains - the acid in their bodies eat into the clear. I have many on the front of my truck. Since moving up to 'real' detailing products last year, they are now smooth after DA polishing but are still there. I believe the only fix is a repaint.
 
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