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I have an '00 C5 that I try to keep in very good condition. However, before putting it away for the winter (last year) I over looked a small area by the rear fender where a bird pooped on and it was left for a good 3-4 months untouched until I brought it out for the 2012 spring/summer year.
Once I realized that it was there, I washed, waxed and tried to polish the area where the poo was and it left a "stain" that is visible only if you look closely, but any Vette owner knows that knowing of its presence just drives you crazy.
Can anyone give me any advice how to remove the stain without damaging the paint job?
Depends on how far it went through the clear coat. You should be just be able to start with a mild compound then move up to a moderate if it doesn't work. Same thing with your pad, start off with a mild pad and move up to a more moderate pad. Keep in mind the clear on corvettes is very very strong and may require a little more tough love. Autopiaforums is a great place for info.
THanks r2h. What kind of compound do you/would you recommend? I have tried stuff like Turtle wax bug/tar remover and also a scratch/scuff remover..both with negative results.
Depends on how far it went through the clear coat. You should be just be able to start with a mild compound then move up to a moderate if it doesn't work. Same thing with your pad, start off with a mild pad and move up to a more moderate pad. Keep in mind the clear on corvettes is very very strong and may require a little more tough love. Autopiaforums is a great place for info.
Exactly what was said above. I'd be hesitant to wet sand if you're able to use a dual action polisher to pull it out
Check out this chart. I keep Prima Amigo, Prima Swirl, 3M Scratch removing, 3M Rubbing compound on hand. I also use Lake Country buffing pads, the blue/green/orange pads. My rule for paint resto is to start with your mild items and move up to your more aggressive items.
I'd be careful with the bug/tar remover. I had someone at work scuff their clear coat, and had to fix it for them. (I'm a medic, not a body shop professional btw).
My process would be to wash the area well, clay bar with mild clay, step up to a more aggressive clay (paint will need to be polish after as the aggressive clay's usually scuff the paint), try Iron-X if the material has an iron appearance, then move to polish/rubbing compounds.
I'll just say that I had bird poop that was on the paint for just like a week or so. Menzerna SIP + orange pad did not get it out.
Going to try Meguiar's m105 with a foam wool pad and see if it does anything. This was suggested to me by a forum vendor over in the detailing section.
If that fails, I'm not going to worry about it. If it were a garage queen or weekend car it might bug me, but I've come to accept that **** will happen to it when using it as a DD.
Keep in mind the clear on corvettes is very very strong and may require a little more tough love.
I have read a few posts noting the hardness or toughness of the clearcoat, but I have read as many that say it is dangerously thin. How many "swirl removal" sessions before you go through it?
2000 grit wetsand of the area then buff with a mild compound. If the bird poop was on that long, it's probably etched the clearcoat pretty deep. Had to do it on my hood after only a few hours in the sun, luckily when I did the hood, it got a LOT of clear on it.
Thanks for the feedback, all. Vetteman... Thats too funny. I will do some research during the next couple of days and hopefully by the weekend, I will have some sort of positive outcome.