Bird Poop Etchings

nath247 · 2 May 2016 at 14:32

Thought I'd post it here so it doesn't get lost in The Car Cleaning Thread.

A while back when cleaning the car I discovered these markings on my bonnet.

It appears at some point a bird has pooped on the car and it hasn't been wiped off and therefore damaging the paint.

I've tried Autoglym Super Resin Polish, G3 scratch remover, Scratch X and Ultimate Compound. The ultimate compound has faded the mark quite a bit from the 2nd picture. But I still cannot get these marks out. Any methods of getting this out? I'm led to believe the damage has already gone too far though.

Just to also add, I do not own a machine polisher and I got a local "scratch repair" guy come out and he attempted to use his rotary polisher with 3M Medium Cut and he only held the polisher on for about 5 seconds and said that he could not get it out without damaging the paint and he reckons it's been resprayed in the past and suggested I just live with it. I did notice however this guy did not make any attempt to clean the bonnet first (didn't wash it, clay it etc) he just dumped the polisher straight on to the mark and could have potentially rubbed dirt into my paintwork causing more damage. I got the impression the guy was in a hurry as he cancelled his appointment on me about 3 times beforehand and drove a little clapped out minivan.

Was this guy telling the truth? Is it really not possible to get rid of these marks without a bonnet respray?

p1RATE · 2 May 2016 at 14:37

You're unlikely to get any better advise on the internet than you are from a local scratch repair guy.

If you cant cut and polish it out then i suspect a respray is your only other option.

Dr Who · 2 May 2016 at 14:40

Needs light sanding, new clearcoat and machine polish imho

nath247 · 2 May 2016 at 14:50

Dr Who said:
Needs light sanding, new clearcoat and machine polish imho

That's what I thought it needed too. Would rather have a pro do it though. I was nearly going to go down the route of getting a DA and having some practice first and then tackling it myself but all the horror stories of machine polishers in general put me off.

ADT · 2 May 2016 at 15:26

That scratch remover guy is a numpty. I hope you didn't pay him.
Get it look at it by a pro. Otherwise it's respray time

nath247 · 2 May 2016 at 16:34

ADT said:
That scratch remover guy is a numpty. I hope you didn't pay him.
Get it look at it by a pro. Otherwise it's respray time

Thankfully he didn't take any money due to being unable to fix it, I would hate to imagine the quality of the job to be honest if he did.

I would but I don't know of any people in the Gloucestershire area that deal with these sort of things apart from the typical "man with a van" scratch repair guy like I dealt with.

ADT · 2 May 2016 at 17:32

nath247 said:
Thankfully he didn't take any money due to being unable to fix it, I would hate to imagine the quality of the job to be honest if he did.

I would but I don't know of any people in the Gloucestershire area that deal with these sort of things apart from the typical "man with a van" scratch repair guy like I dealt with.

Maybe a company that does them on site?
You will find most of these guys with vans to be a bunch of cowboys.

Mal X · 2 May 2016 at 18:31

the bonnet will be roughly £300 at a Resprayers, maybe less for a clearcoat only, this is by far your best option.

when you wet the bonnet do the scratches temporarily vanish, because if so you dont need the blue paint.

Gaygle · 2 May 2016 at 18:35

p1RATE said:
You're unlikely to get any better advise on the internet than you are from a local scratch repair guy.

Not sure if serious? This being the local scratch repair guy who turned up in a clapped out minivan and then spent 5 seconds polishing it when he hadn't even cleaned/wiped down the area first??

OP, forget resprays for now. If you can find someone with a rotary polisher, i'm sure that'll come back. If not, wet sanding then polishing it almost certainly will.

Dr House · 2 May 2016 at 18:58

https://www.minutiadetailing.com

If you are in london this guy is amazing. He will be able to get it out.

wazza300 · 2 May 2016 at 19:05

Some t-cut would shift it surely?

Mal X · 2 May 2016 at 20:17

Dr House said:
https://www.minutiadetailing.com

If you are in london this guy is amazing. He will be able to get it out.

brilliant link thanks

Dr House · 2 May 2016 at 21:24

Mal X said:
brilliant link thanks

2 of my cars are there to have a ceramic coat put on so I will post pics in a week when it's done but the guys work is like nothing I have ever seen before.

Also if you get the ceramic thing put on this will not happen to your car again

nath247 · 2 May 2016 at 22:28

Mal X said:
the bonnet will be roughly £300 at a Resprayers, maybe less for a clearcoat only, this is by far your best option.

when you wet the bonnet do the scratches temporarily vanish, because if so you dont need the blue paint.

Now that you mention it, I think the marks did temporarily fade away earlier when I was washing the car, will have to double check though.

p1RATE · 2 May 2016 at 22:30

Gaygle said:
Not sure if serious? This being the local scratch repair guy who turned up in a clapped out minivan and then spent 5 seconds polishing it when he hadn't even cleaned/wiped down the area first??

OP, forget resprays for now. If you can find someone with a rotary polisher, i'm sure that'll come back. If not, wet sanding then polishing it almost certainly will.

You're right, giving advise based on a picture is much better than the first hand of some one with the tools to do the job.

Its likely (Based on the scratch repair not wanting carry on) that the clear coat is beyond repair so the only way to fix this properly is new paint/top coat.

You don't really need a rotary polisher, you can do this by hand with cutting compound to see how well it will come up, but if the clear coat is damaged there is only so much you can do. Plus you're less likely to do much damage if you don't have much experience.

You should seek the opinion of a professional anyway.

Mal X · 3 May 2016 at 01:10

nath247 said:
Now that you mention it, I think the marks did temporarily fade away earlier when I was washing the car, will have to double check though.

how old is your car because some paint fades over time and this might show if you respray the bonnet...... Red paint fades the most :eek:

but a really good paint shop is able to colour match faded paint, considering this it's probably safer to re-lacquer only.

i'm always spraying stuff esp custom PC Cases, i might buy a car bonnet off Flea bay and just spray it for practice, i have three airbrushes but for a large area like this i'll need to buy a Spray gun, which will take practice to get used to.

Mal X · 3 May 2016 at 01:30

Dr House said:
2 of my cars are there to have a ceramic coat put on so I will post pics in a week when it's done but the guys work is like nothing I have ever seen before.

Also if you get the ceramic thing put on this will not happen to your car again

thanks, please start a new thread or i wont be able to remember....... it aint easy when you get over 50 years old

Gaygle · 3 May 2016 at 18:14

p1RATE said:
You're right, giving advise based on a picture is much better than the first hand of some one with the tools to do the job.

Yeah, because he was obviously a complete pro in his banged up minivan, using his rotary polisher on a dirty car, for 5 seconds.

p1RATE said:
Its likely (Based on the scratch repair not wanting carry on) that the clear coat is beyond repair so the only way to fix this properly is new paint/top coat.

Is it? How do you know that? You've only got a picture to go by afterall...

p1RATE said:
You don't really need a rotary polisher, you can do this by hand with cutting compound to see how well it will come up

Lol, yeah, sure. Working a polish properly would require arms like Popeye. Even then, you'd never refine it down properly by hand.

p1RATE said:
but if the clear coat is damaged there is only so much you can do. Plus you're less likely to do much damage if you don't have much experience.

This stuff about rotary polishers is perpetuated endlessly on the internet, and many years ago it almost convinced me not to get one. When I did actually get one, I discovered that people on the internet were full of crap. Yes, you can damage your paintwork with a rotary polisher, if you are a complete (and I mean complete) idiot.

And the clearcoat may not be completely damaged at all, but you'll only know that when you start trying to polish or wet sand it out. I'd start with a decent polish with a DA or a rotary and i'd be surprise if that didn't completely remove it or reduce it down significantly.

Howard · 3 May 2016 at 18:46

I held a rotary polisher with a medium cut compound in the same spot for about 30 seconds a while ago, on a scrap panel I had. Just to see what would happen. Other than the area becoming far too hot to touch, nothing happened.