HELP, bug bug damage too much to repair?

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Dredogol

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ARGH... :bash:

So I'm trying to detail my dad's car (2010 Nissan Altima), but I think the bumper is damged beyond repair at this point.
He neglected to clean bug guts off the car WAY too long, and this is what it looks like:

View attachment 59735

I basically did all the proper prep work:
Clean + Clay + IPA (even used SUPER CLEAN because it was WAY too stuck on)

I used Meguiar's Ultimate Compound + stiff Yellow Lake Country Foam Cutting Pad, doing 2 total runs (3-pass per run) with about 10lb of pressure
That didn't worked, so I ran and bought Meguiar's M105 and did another 2 total runs (3-pass per run)

It did a better job than UC, but not enough. I'm basically left with similar results as above image... roughly 1/2 the damage now

Is this paint too damaged?
Should I go buy/try a Microfiber cutting pad?

I don't have a Orbital Rotary buffer... only my DA.
 
Looks as though the bug guts have eaten past the clear coat and paint to the primer. Am I correct?

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Buster906 said:
Looks as though the bug guts have eaten past the clear coat and paint to the primer. Am I correct?

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Click to expand...

I don't think it got down to the primer level... but I'm afraid it might have completely compromised the clear coat.

Would a glaze help cover a little of that?
 
Toasted. Bug guts depending on the bugs are heinous to CC.

The clear is etched, it's history. Nothing will fix that for long term. Glaze is a waste of time.

I've experienced this first hand so I'm sharing from my own experience. I missed love bugs on the roof on my old Xterra, they were hitting the roof rail cross bars and dropping their guts on the roof, the etching was their forever.
 
Repaint is in order or live with the look

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Do you think wet sanding can shave off a little more of the etching... or do you think that will do more damage to this bumper?
It's a Nissan, so I know the CC is softer than other brands.

I have M105 / Meguiars UC / Meguiars Polish... so I can smooth out the scratch marks the wet-sand would leave behind.
 
That may be possibly the worst thing to do. The clear is already compromised.

PS I've owned every generation of the Nissan Altima and have a 2016 in the drive way. I traded an 09 in for the 2016 this time last year and was original owner of the 09.
I have never found the clear to be soft over the mutliple generations and have always been happy with the overall quality of the paint compared to Camrys and Accords over the same generations and it has far outlasted them in the Florida weather. The most frequent cc failure I see down here is always Hondas and Toyotas.

I hate to say it, but the old addage " an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is most appropriate here. And as I mentioned before I myself have learned this the hard way.

This was my hood on the 09, it had never been polished and this was when I got my G21 so I was messing around on it, this took less than 20 minutes and it was like glass. Definitely not soft paint on this 09.

Tha pic is dated June 2015!

View attachment 59737
 
Agree with Sporty on this one. For people that aren't into washing or keeping up with their vehicles, I always tell them it's at least imparative they clean up, rinse off/remove at the very least, the front clip and more to get rid of the bug guts so they don't ruin their paint.
 
I agree with Sporty, however, since the bumper cover is already toast and beyond the point of no return, you could always do a test spot with 2000 then 3000 then 5000, then hit it with 101.

If your test spot proves worthy, you may find your efforts in labor to be very time consuming. It's probably best to contact a body shop and have them pull the bumper cover and have them re-spray it. I'll bet it's less than a $500 repair, but since he's lived with the dead bugs stuck to the bumper all this time, he probably doesn't care...
 
UPDATE

So I ran another 3 passes of a hard Yellow foam DA pad with Meguiars M105 again.
Much better results now... hard to tell from afar the damage until you get fairly close.
I'm wanting to do a few more passes... but I'm afraid if I do too many... it'll get down to the bare paint.
(I'll try to take pictures tomorrow if it is sunny)

Does anyone know roughly how many times you can do M105 on a Nissan paint?
 
UPDATE

Here is a BEFORE and AFTER of the bumper.

Had to do 7-passes using a Yellow still DA pad using Meguiars M105.
I stopped, as I could not see any more orange peal... and worried I would go past the clear coat.
I guess this is the best I can do... short of repaint this bumper

TBH, this turned out far better than I thought... honestly thought this thing was toast after reading everyone's comments.

View attachment 59990

View attachment 59991
 
If it was a dark car it'd be another story. I just did this on a 12 toyota sienna today and the bug guts have trashed the front end. I didn't even bother trying to compound, especially after the fiasco of getting the years old baked on tree sap off. Customer know the best way fix is a either repaint or replace

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