TGO

I hear that. If I could concrete my front yard then I could park the car on the other side away from the power lines or even put up a canopy or carport. It's just too much money right now.

My goal is actually to make it down to North/South Carolina. As close to the ocean as possible. But, unfortuntely it's just not that easy to pick up and move.

The more I think about it...the more I realize that birds are the most worthless creatures on the planet. Dinosaurs are all butt hurt that they don't rule the world anymore so they fly around and crap on our stuff. Portable canopy won't do me any good. There's not enough room for one really...and if I did find one that fit it would likely inhibit my ability to get the car properly parked in the small driveway, and also inhibit my ability to walk up and down the driveway. I mean, basically the car is as close to the fence as possible in order to leave a path of concrete on the side of the car to walk up and down. A canopy would mean I have to center the car, which is an issue...but the posts in the front would also block my entrance/exit points. Sigh.... EDIT: and the last time I left it on the street someone hit it...so that's out of the question!

I've got a "trifecta" of bad situations for parking a car. 1) I have no garage. 2) The power lines to my house are directly over my driveway. 3) There are an insane amount of birds in my neighborhood....oddly enough the neighborhoods with the most trees (not mine) also have the smallest bird problem due to lots of hawks living there. So, every day I have to deal with bird crap. Especially in the morning or after a rain storm because all the birds like to perch and dry off/warm up in the sun. Naturally my car becomes their toilet. I just did a full detail over the weekend of my GTO and the car is looking sexy. I've been waiting to wash it again so I can get another coat of wax on it before throwing the cover on because it's been raining a lot. Yesterday I had to clean off 4 spots of crap. It came off easily due to the wax/sealant and didn't leave a mark. However today, I either got bombed by one of these guys: Or a bird who has a steady diet of battery acid and various other corrosives. A little spot...the size of a dime. Right on the trunk. Couldn't have been there for more than an hour. The sun wasn't even on the car at the time. Cleaned it off...not only did it leave a mark - but you can FEEL where it ate through the wax and sealant and probably even ate some of the clear! ****!!!!! So, now I've got to strip the trunk and go at it again with the flex to get it out. And like I said, this happens every day. I spend so much time cleaning the crap off it's ridiculous. The cover is a pain in the *** too...cause every time you drive the car you've gotta wash it. I got some waterless wash but it's' still a pain in the ***. And not only that but it's not like it keeps the car clean...though it does help with the bird crap...but with rain and everything fine bits of dirt get through and with the wind blowing it around it creates surface scratches even though it's secured as tightly as possible. It sucks but I'm getting to the point where I'm looking to find a person with a garage I can rent because this is getting out of hand. Storage places want $300+ per month or they have outside spots for $150 which doesn't help solve my problem at all. FML.

I'm not sure what you're asking.....you use your ipad when it's plugged in to the wall? Doesn't that defeat the purpose?

You're in the clear on that one. I've been ordering from Thompson Racing because they are so close by I can literally have my stuff in a day or two even with the slowest shipping. They've already advance shipped a replacement

My GTO that I just spent all day yesterday detailing.... :/ and the 95 Impala SS - it's dirty too. I love not having a garage.

I was gonna try some of this stuff on my own car, but it says it's for oil based paint. I don't know if it will help you out, but that's a lot of spots to take off!

It's an inconvenience for sure. In the end I was still able to get my yearly correctinon done on the GTO...but I REALLY wanted to wash the Impala ad hit it with some detail spray.

heh...I got a fedex notification that my gallon of waterless wash/detail spray was damaged in shipping. which sucks because i needed them this weekend.

Once I read this I went to order another green pad just because I literally have a full bottle of SSR that I just got with my kit...and they're already off the site? ARGH!

I also have a filtration system that I use. I bought a .35 micron debris filter and also a "water softener" filter. I got both for the price of the single one on AutoGeek. Best money I ever spent. Because of that I usually just pop the hose sprayer off and let the water just pour out of the hose straight for the final rinse. Then I'll let it mostly air dry (which in the summer sun doesn't take too long) and I'll finish it off with a single soft towel and some detail spray. Still get a couple of spots here and there which is probably mostly leftover soap/dirt residue but the detail spray dissolves them no problem. It's a hundred times better than having a whole car covered in spots after only 5 minutes.

I've never owned a truck that I gave a rats *** about...but I was always curious to know what people with nice trucks did. I wasn't expecting to see so many "no's" here!

And there's also the saying "do something you love and you'll never work a day in your life." Me personally...I enjoy spending the time working on my "ladies" be it mechanical or making them shiny...but to do it as my only form of income? For me at least, it would be a lot of back breaking work. Plus, the one thing that always gives me that queasy feeling when touching someone else's car is liability. You'd have to have insurance because of it...but whether it's your fault or not, if something unintended happens to someone's car - even if you've made them sign a waiver - there's the potential for a big problem.

It's definitely an addiction. I ordered my machine polishing kit recently....and then I ordered a separate 3 pack of the quick sealer...and just tonight I ordered a gallon of detail spray (because I went through the bottle I got with my kit in about a week) and a gallon of waterless wash (with towels) because....well, why not? I have been ordering from a local dealer though because it cuts down on shipping time.

Well, for the record...the clay didn't do anything either. Relax, I'm not trying to take a shot at the products. The point I was trying to make is that IMO the Adam's polishes are not abrasive enough (with good reason!) to actually remove enough material to level out the scratches caused by someone basically taking sand paper to their car. Also, like I said, I've been in this situation before. I had someone in my family do this to one of my cars and the solution was to wet sand. Is he gonna get some of it out? Sure. But I'm not one to offer false hope to someone if I don't think something will work. Especially if it's something I've had experience with in the past.

Judging by the inability of SSH to remove paint overspray..I highly doubt the current product line has enough "cut" to remove the damage done by taking an abrasive pad to a painted surface. With a PC? I hope you have a week full of nothing else to do. Even with a flex and some aggressive compound I would have my reservations. If anything a rotary and an experienced operator would be the minimum I would expect could help. But having been through this situation myself...wetsanding was the only solution.

That car needs to be wetsanded. IMO no amount of buffing with a compound or otherwise is gong to help. And here's to hoping he didn't go to deep with it.

I don't know if it's latex. I can't think of anyone that would paint an outside railing with latex paint. I should just ask him for the can...but anyway, I spent a couple of hours today going over the entire car with the blob eliminator and took off everything I found. I was out of time so I needed to finish and seal/wax the car. I guess I will just use it on any spots I find in the future if any. But I got all the ones I could find.

I tried rubbing alcohol, WD40, Goo Gone...I have Goof Off but don't really want to coat my car in it. Same thing for the Blob eliminator...although that did work on the spots I tried it on.

I can't get a picture. The spots are too small, they don't show up.

Ok guys...so I went at it today. Got a lot of the spots off...but I still find some if I look hard enough. It seems the panels that regularly bake in the sun are the hardest to get them off of. I did the hood, roof and trunk today. Wound up having to go at them each about 3 times with the severe swirl remover, then I did the swirl and haze and fine machine polish. And just as I was running out of sunlight, I still was able to find a dot or two on the trunk while giving a final inspection. I am not happy. I told the neighbor about it and he has been very apologetic..which doesn't solve my problem at all. He has been going back and forth with the store he bought the paint from though and apparently it is water based and should come off with alcohol or mineral spirits. Not sure if that's true but he will be bringing me some denatured alcohol tomorrow and some mineral spirits. I am unsure if that will help at all. Seems like the most effective course of action was the severe swirl remover and LOTS of pressure. Like to the point I was starting to be afraid I was pushing so hard. One thing that did work fairly well on the tough spots was some left over langka blob eliminator. I don't know what the stuff it made of...but it took them off with a few swipes of a microfober. Problem is I don't have enough to do the whole car...and I don't know if it's really safe to slather my whole car in it either. Right now every part of me hurts. Especially my hands and wrists. I need to get some sleep because I've gotta finish the car tomorrow. This whole situation sucks. A beautiful 18k mile Impala SS "barn find" that I've literally busted my *** to get back to perfect...and it's violated by some careless idiot. EDIT: Oh, and I forgot the best part! I can still knock even the most stubborn ones off with a fingernail! Hah!

Stick it to sommething else and then attach to your windshield with something easier to remove.

I would never take a brush to any painted surface, but that's just me.

It may sound crazy, but if there's some dirt/crud REALLY stuck to your paint...you can try some WD40. Let it soak in. It won't "clean" anything but since it is penetrating oil it may get behind whatever's stuck there and help it to release easier. It won't hurt the paint.