What is this and can it be removed with a DA?

[Joe in PA]

Sure didn't mean to cause such a debate with my post.

The jeep is now nearly 11yrs old with just under 200,000 miles. It use to be the wife's daily drive and had 75,000 miles on it when we purchased it 5 yrs ago. It has now been relegated to mostly foul weather driving when I don't want to drive my 07' Grand Cherokee or 09' Mustang GT. The vehicle has always been parked outside and frequently had birds crap all over it, tree sap fall on it and left dirty for weeks. It is a wonder the paint isn;t if worse shape.

So a repaint is out of the questuin. I was simply attempting to see just what I could do with it and I now realize the answer is not a whole lot. I will still go over the whole Jeep with a combo of UC and M205 before applying a sealant. It won't look good to those who hang out here at AGO but I now consider it a challenge and it will get done!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Looks like a Type II Bird Dropping Etching to me... and probably can't be safely removed because the paint is wrinkled "throughout" the clear layer of paint.

See this article,

Two Types of Bird Dropping Etchings

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Two Types of Bird Dropping Etchings

• Type I Bird Dropping - Topical Stain Etching
• Type II Bird Dropping - Fractured/Wrinkled Etching

There are two common types of damage associated with bird dropping etchings;



Type I Bird Dropping - Topical Stain Etching
Type I Topical Stain Etchings are usually only topical, that is shallow enough that they can be completely removed or at least greatly improved to the point where they are difficult to see.

This type of etching can be removed using a clear coat safe compound or polish by hand or machine. Hand removal is almost always more efficient as you can exert more pressure to a small area and thus keep your work area isolated to just the affected area. By machine you can use a Spot Repair System, again to keep the work area isolated to just the affected area.

Photo courtesy of MeguiarsOnline.com

Type II Bird Dropping - Fractured/Wrinkled Etching
Type II Wrinkled Etchings are usually too deep to fix safely. The problem is the paint fractures, (splits apart in tiny lines,), or wrinkles as the paint swells and bunches together. In both instances, the resulting defect is throughout the clear layer of paint and not topical. Thus trying to remove it will require removing so much clear paint that you will likely expose the basecoat, or colored layer of paint which has a dull appearance. For this reason it's not safe to try to remove a Type II Bird Dropping Wrinkled or Fractured Etching.

Photo courtesy of AutogeekOnline.com