Bird Poop and Detail Question
 

Hey you guys, when I bought my Z (used) there were only two real "imperfections" that bothered me (I have OCD, I keep my car in top shape), which were two spots on the hood where the previous owner let two small things of bird crap sit too long. I was going through The Junkman videos and he never showed it directly on a bird crap spot (even though he did show one before the process). Does anyone know how to (if possible) get these out? I had a guy wet sand/wax when I first got it to see if it'd do it but it didn't.

Also, if you look down to where the skinny piece of the fender (the part under the Z turn signal) and the sideskirt meat, they have that little spot that's like, unreachable? Does anyone have recommendations on how to clean in that spot? I have wax in there that I can't get out.


Thanks guys!

Got pics? (not of the bird poop) ;)

What you have is etching most likely and if its not too severe all the same processes you use to correct swirl marks (clay to decontaminate, polish to correct) should remove it.

Sometimes it might take an extra pass or 2 in that area to get it 100%, but should come out no problem!

I've had pretty good results with clay bar>scratch x>Adam's fine machine polish.

If a real wet sand didnt' get it out then polishing won't. that means it's all the way through the clear coat. The only option you have is measure the clearcoat sand it down as low as you are comfortable going and polish up what's left. Junkman has a post on the Adam's forums where he took a pretty deep scratch out of the side of a car with this method. It's not perfect but much better.

My girl's car is the same way. It has a pretty demolished hood with several bird dropping etches. The result of 4 years of female ownership.

I used the Adam's 3 step process with 3 passes with the severe, 2 with swirl and haze and 3 with fine polish and they still didn't come all the way out. It did smooth out the surface enough that when cleaned and waxed it isn't noticeable from more than 3-4 inches away... but like you i am OCD and notice it there still. When the car is dirty and not properly reflecting the light it's a bit more noticeable. I does look much better than before though and I do highly recommend their products. With just two passes with the fine machine polish I was able to make my 9 year old Mazda and 3 year old Z both look perfectly brand new.

BTW, I use a Flex polisher not a Portercable

You do not want to sand it down to almost touching paint. You need a paint thickness gauge and check to see how much clear coat you have. Than you can work from there.

The only thing is, it seems like most of you used the actual machine buffer. I'm a little afraid to do that just because of the horror stories I hear about with permanent swirl marks. With me being new to it, that's my biggest fear. I might have to try a very good clay bar, scratch X, polish, and see if it improves it. If not, the reviews I'm reading on the Adam's site seem to give me a little confidence when referring to it being "fool proof." I mean they aren't that bad, but I know they are there, which is what matters. Luckily for me, I don't have a black car. I have white, which I think is pretty easy to take care of. After I get some goodies installed (rims, rotors, suspension) this Summer, I might have to pick a day out and buy all these products and just baby the hell out of her. It's not like I mind it anyway :)

Vertigo, I was referring to this spot (highlighted, in the crack): http://tinypic.com/r/rtkeva/5

Thanks for the input, it's all appreciated!

My bad... missed the part of the original post where sanding was mentioned... yea... if sanding it didn't remove the problem its too far gone to repair without sanding further and risking going too far.

Might just be one of those situations where you get it 'as good as it can look' and live with it unfortunately.

Well, the only disappointing thing about the sanding was it didn't look or feel any different after he did it. There's some other spots where it seemed like he didn't hit? So I'm curious if me paying direct attention to it would help out. My dad is interested in a machine polisher as well, this may be a Summer project. I'll be doing Adam's, Dylan.

Take a close up picture of the area and post it up for us to see.

And don't be scared of a machine polisher. I went straight to the Flex dual action polisher. I had used cheap black and decker orbital buffers from walmart but always burned them out after a few uses. Got the Flex for Christmas from my girl this year and LOVE it. So easy to get rid of swirl marks on a well maintained car.

I don't see how people could get burn-in with this. You'd have to push really hard or use a really aggressive compound and pad. Even if you do that you can easily remove it by stepping down in pads and polish.

I know a lot of people recommend going for a portercable first, but I would skip it. I now do detailing jobs on the weekend cause I can get even pretty damaged cars (including a friend's bmw that had swirl burn-in from someone using a rotary buffer wrong) looking nearly brand new in a day.

I'd also recommend the Adam's pads if you go with the Flex. I had used a competitor's that came with my Flex as part of the gift for the first two cars. After switching to the Adam's pads for the 3rd I noticed a big difference in how quickly the fine polish was able to get the last of the swirls out. Seemed to get a better overall sheen too compared to the grooved pads that came with my kit.

Yeah, I'd be going with the Adam's kit that comes with the polisher, the 3 pads, and the 3 liquids. It's the simplest method and everything is there for you. Seems to put out amazing results from the videos I've watched.