I detailed the car today. I wanted to get one good detail job finished before Winter set in, and I noticed some things. First, there are some little white spots on the passenger side door. They almost look like over spray, which is a bit scary. Anyway, I tried to get it off with clay bar, but that didn't work. Has anyone seen something similar on their car? What kind of things can I try in order to remove them? If I leave them there until Spring, will it make the situation worse? Secondly, my back window had what looked liked two little pieces of rust, which had dug (etched maybe) into the actual window. I picked at them, and got most of it out. ...but the actual window seems to have been damaged. Both of them left an indention, and it's discolored in and around each of the indentions. It's hard to describe, but it looks like whatever it was melted (that's probably not the right word, but it's the best I can do at 1:30AM ) into the window a ways. Any ideas on what they might be? Can a bird dropping do this? Thanks in advance.

 

if the white is below the clearcoat you wont be able to do much.
if the white is on the outside of the clear, try some ScratchX and it
should remove it if clay didn't work.

not sure wats going on about your glass. sounds more like a defect
of some sort.

 

Back glass is a puzzler. Almost sounds like welding spatter or grinder/cutting torch sparks. Has your MINI been near anything like that?

 

I would agree that the back glass thing is weird. Is this the back piece you had replaced (that was you, right)?

As far as the white spots, it sounds like road paint. Clay *should* take it off but it will take awhile. Scratch-X will work as well, but clay is more gentle. Someone here spent a good couple of hours getting yellow road paint off the side of their car with clay a week or so ago, the thread is probably around here somewhere.

 

My back window hasn't been replaced. If the white specks are road paint, will it hurt to leave them there until the Spring? I didn't knowtice them until I had already applied 3 coats of Zaino. I tried to clay bar it, but the Zaino seems to be pretty rock solid. I clayed and clayed and clayed and clayed and clayed and it was still beading. Will the Zaino keep me from claying this stuff off?

That's exactly what it looks like. To my knowledge it hasn't been around anything like that though.

 

You need to remove the Zaino before you clay bar. Wash the area with dish soap (this strips the Zaino off) then try the clay bar.

 

It's probably going to be a while before I can get to the white spots. We're suppose to get a major ice storm Wednesday. Not sure when my next opportunity will be. I'm not going to worry about it; the thought of me outside in the cold trying to strip wax and clay bar off little white spots is funny though. HaHa! My neighbors would love that. I'm assuming if it will come off now, it will come off later. (it might have to wait until Spring) If it won't come out...so be it. Just another flaw. My car has a growing number of those, and with each new one, the next one becomes easier to except.

 

IF the white specks are road paint, it won't hurt anything to wait until Spring to remove them. If they are something else though, then it's hard to say. If they're something corrosive trapped under the Zaino, then they could etch at the paint. Tough call!

As others already said, I agree that it's likely clay isn't working because of the Zaino.

As long as you're pretty sure the spots are paint, I would probably just wait until spring... considering you mentioned you have harsh weather coming your way. That is unless the spots are in such a small area that you could remove the Zaino in just that little area... just another thought.

Good luck!

-Heather

 

People often don't properly use clay when it comes to removing overspray. It's ok to rub moderately hard on the clay and make 20 or 30 passes over a single area to clean it. Often you will remove tiny bits of paint at a time, almost unnoticeable. But keep working at it, and it should come off.

Meguiar's has a blue Professional clay that is Mild, yet more aggressive than their consumer clay or DP's clay. In one instance, consumer clay required 40 strokes and Mild clay took 10 strokes. Don't use the Red aggressive clay because that will cause more scratches and swirls in your paint.

Now of course to determine if these white specs are on or in the paint, just feel it. Does it feel bumpy?? Or smooth as glass?? Can you take some pix so that we can take a look??

Richard