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How to remove spray paint?

12K views 52 replies 13 participants last post by  jmc 
#1 ·
Can one of the members who has great experience detailing, or has had great results from a detailer in Northern NJ (recommendations please) direct me?

My MY2015 Night Black CLA received a coating of yellow spray paint. It covers all of the horizontal surfaces, and tapers off as it goes down the vertical body panels.
It apparently was paint that was caught by the wind from someone who was using spray paint on their boat near where my car was parked at the boatyard.
It looks like a light coating of pollen in Spring...
The day prior to the paint getting on the car, I had washed the car, then used Chemical Guys Black Light sealant, and then the V7 Optical Coat. Doesn't seem to make the spray paint slide off...

At first I thought it was just dust from the boatyard. Then a few days later I went to clean the car and discovered there is a problem.

I have tried the Clay Block (clay mounted to a sponge block) and super lube from Chemical Guys. Seems to leave an 'alligator-ing' pattern (light colored wave pattern in the black paint) and scratches in the paint - maybe I used a little too much pressure?
I switched to using the non-abrasive Clay Bar from Meguiars... this didn't leave the 'alligator-ing' but I was still getting light scratches though I used no pressure, just letting the bar glide over the lubricant. The surface feels very smooth and clean., bu there are scratches. Lots of lubricant was used during both attempts.

The paint has now been coating my car for about 3 weeks.

The car happened to be at the Mercedes dealer for the last week. Their body shop looked at it while it was there and said it probably needs to be wet-sanded. The service rep seemed uncomfortable with his own body shop guys, so I am not considering letting them touch the car.

i saw a Chemical Guys video where they used their Butter Wet Wax to remove spray paint, as the oils in the carnuba wax apparently soften and loosen the paint...

I just don't want to keep trying item after item and keep scratching the paint, which seems to be rather delicate. I've only done some small sections and I am hesitant to do any more areas...

Thoughts??? Fantastic (reasonably priced!) detailer close to me?

Many thanks in advance!

Peter
 
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#51 ·
My MY2015 Night Black CLA received a coating of yellow spray paint. spray paint,
.................
Peter,
5 years later - Did you ever locate the painter, who cruised South...and how has your original finish held up?
 
#52 ·
Hi Geo!
Yes, I eventually received a response from the boat owner - he was long gone at that point. He tried to empathize with me by saying he "too was out of work" - however I did point out to him that his 'out of work' was by choice and designed to take advantage of whatever his current financial state was, whereas my 'out of work' was unexpected and a possible looming financial disaster. However - none of this really mattered. He did offer to send me something (no idea what... a macaroni bracelet? A scarf woven by his wife? His grandchild (who I guess was about 7 or 8 years old)?? - who by the way, I came to the conclusion, that the kid caused the mess - that he was probably playing with tools in the boat owner's truck bed, found the spray paint and sprayed it into the air in the direction of my car not understanding what he was doing other than having fun spraying the paint, and the paint settled all over my car). I told the boat owner I didn't want anything from him at that point and terminated the communication.

The original finish looked (immediately after), and still looks fine, I am very happy to report. There was a small section that looked to have an 'alligator' finish (I don't know how else to describe it) on the right rear quarter panel. Probably from me rubbing too hard at the beginning of the process, but eventually (after a couple of years?) it seemed to settle down and looks no different from the rest of the car now.
There are some very faint scratches in the surface all over the car - possibly from the removal of the spray paint, possibly from my cleaning (improperly?) the car in subsequent years... however they do vanish when I take the time to properly clean and 'wax' the car. This coming Spring I may take the car to be professionally detailed to have these barely visible scratches buffed out once and for all.

I also would like to add that Larry Kosila from AmmoNYC did return my call (took a while as he had been out of town when I left a message for him), was very supportive, friendly and gave some suggestions.

Thanks for following up!!

Stay safe.
 
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