wales@ucla-cs.UUCP (02/25/86)
Several weeks ago, my car got a fine mist of white or off-white house
paint on one side. Apparently, I had the bad fortune to be parked on
the street next to an apartment building that had some touch-up paint
work done on it while I was away from the car.
The largest of the paint spots are less than 1 mm in diameter. They
are on the passenger's side and are not noticeable unless you look
closely -- indeed, I didn't notice them myself until much later. Since
I didn't see the damage immediately, and probably cannot prove who was
responsible, I see little hope of successfully suing the people who
repainted the apartment across the street.
What I want to know is, how can I get this stuff off my car? The under-
lying paint job is in almost-new condition, and I've tried to keep a
good coat of wax on it (which I hope may help things). Just to see what
would happen, I tried scraping the little spots off with my fingernail
-- no luck.
Would buffing, polishing, stripping the wax, etc., succeed in getting
the paint mist off without wrecking the original paint job? What about
the mist that got on the plastic side trim?
Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions.
--
Rich Wales // UCLA Computer Science Department // +1 213-825-5683
3531 Boelter Hall // Los Angeles, California 90024 // USA
ARPA: wales@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU -or- wales@UCLA-LOCUS.ARPA
UUCP: ...!(ucbvax,ihnp4)!ucla-cs!walesklr@hadron.UUCP (Kurt L. Reisler) (02/26/86)
In article <9369@ucla-cs.ARPA> wales@ucla-cs.UUCP (Rich Wales) writes: >Several weeks ago, my car got a fine mist of white or off-white house >paint on one side. Apparently, I had the bad fortune to be parked on >the street next to an apartment building that had some touch-up paint >work done on it while I was away from the car. > >The largest of the paint spots are less than 1 mm in diameter. They >are on the passenger's side and are not noticeable unless you look >closely -- indeed, I didn't notice them myself until much later. Since >I didn't see the damage immediately, and probably cannot prove who was >responsible, I see little hope of successfully suing the people who >repainted the apartment across the street. There should be no need to "sue" them. Most commercial painting firms (buildings, bridges and the like) expect to pay for paint removal on cars, boats, trucks, etc. that have been accidentally "redecorated" by their efforts. Contact the firm that was doing to painting, and if that fails, try your local Better Business Bureau. -------- All the usual disclaimers apply.
fbr@utastro.UUCP (Frank Ray) (02/27/86)
Try white rubbing compound, but dilute it with a little water to make it more controllable. Go carefully. You'll develop a feel for it's cutting action pretty quickly. A more rapid method is to use 600 grit silicon carbide paper, with a generous flow of water. Actually, a similar thing happened at the U. of Texas, and the contractor posted a notice that everyone with splotches (in this case, of roof coating) would get to have their paint jobs repaired professionally, covered by the contractor's insurance. You might at least contact the painter about it first. I'd also recommend a wax like Classic Car wax, which has very fine abrasives added for polishing as you wax. Try it on the paint spots first. It may be sufficient to remove them. They couldn't be as tough as the paint on your car. Another point. Paint dries from the outside in. The drying process tapers off after the skin dries. Some body shops let the paint set for 30 days, then go back and compund the top surface off to let the rest dry out well. If the car is waxed during the first 30-40 days, it slows the drying of the total coating. Best just to keep it clean, do a light compounding, let it dry another month, and thereafter wax. Good luck. fbr@utastro.UUCP
heneghan@ihlpf.UUCP (Heneghan) (02/28/86)
> Several weeks ago, my car got a fine mist of white or off-white house > paint on one side. Apparently, I had the bad fortune to be parked on > the street next to an apartment building that had some touch-up paint > work done on it while I was away from the car. : : Polishing compound will get rid of it depending on the granularity of the paint. If it's heavy, you should go to rubbing compound. Joe Heneghan