Will38

Apparently I have the worst luck ever... Some van ran over a bottle of spray paint, exploding the paint all over my front bumper, hood, windshield, fender, doors, etc. Question is how am I going to remove the paint in the areas that have small gaps/hard to reach places.

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Arcoril

Clay bars are your friend here. They work great for overspray, but make sure you get around to it quickly. It'll easily be an entire afternoon of work, but there won't be any permanent damage.

C300Sport

Good grief man...that really sucks...sorry to hear about this. I might even think this is an issue for insurance to get involved...if you don't have a very high deductable.
Not sure how much, but you are going to have paint in your radiator, air filters/intake lines, etc...it may be worth looking into???

infantry

hey, this has been happening a lot in my town, people hitting paint cans left in the ground.

I think people are doing this on purpose. Anyone else think this?

I wish you luck with that, but i would honestly call insurance.

ldtCapitan

+1.

NJBNZ

Ouch man...that sucks! I drove over some freshly painted lines on the highway a few weeks ago...got home an found white paint that splashed up all over my side skirts and the bottom of my rear bumper. Took FOREVER to get it all off. I used some VERY fine grit polishing compound and it got everything off w/o ruining the paint...but it took a lot of elbow grease and a lot of time.

I didn't mind using the polishing compound on mine b/c it was only the side skirts and lower bumper...but I don't think I'd use it on your car seeing as how its all over your front bumper and hood. Give the clay bar a try...but honestly I'd take it to a body shop or a professional detailer and have them do it b/c getting all that off is going to literally take half a day.

Good luck man

amap

I think it´s better call insurance and try to find every hole the painting could be in (out-and inside)

P.D. Sorry about my english! jeje

NickCats

I hit a puddle of what I think was wet cement in my Boxster a couple of years ago and it ended up all over both sides of the car. I did have good results removing it with a clay bar, but it took a lot of work, and it was impossible to get into some of the hard to reach places. I would give it a shot, but I agree insurance may be the way to go with this one ( call the dealer and see if they can recommend a professional detailer in your area )

Nick

Rick471

Getting the paint out of that grille is going to be impossible. Insurance pal. I bet the quote to fix it up comes in at over 4K.

Xander Crews

Insurance. Let a good body shop take the grill apart and deal with the mess.

Will38

Thanks clay bar is working great but I'm unable to clean off the sides around the license plate. Also the mesh is all white now.... and I don't think claybar would do at this point. You think I should spray paint it black myself?

I agree insurance would be nice, but I just got my car back from vandalism....literally.. I think my insurance would go up if I keep claiming insurance. For some parts, I'm willing to go to a body shop to paint the grill on my own expense. Hopefully it won't cost too much.

rtking

The sooner you get it off the better.

Sometimes an "aggressive" body-shop type clay works a little better, but you run the risk of having to polish afterwards, so do as much as you can with the clay you're using.

On cured automotive paints and some plastics where you can't clay, mineral spirits or paint thinner should work fine with a good cotton terry cloth towel. Get it lightly saturated so it hopefully works under the edge of the overspray and breaks loose.

Test any procedure in an inconspicuous area first.

Wax afterwards.

BlackjackM

Try a local high end detailer. Could run you several hundred dollars but it will be done right and will be cheaper than your insurance going up.

soldier2304

Why would you pay a body shop to paint the grill? You can paint the grill yourself it's the easiest thing. Will take about half an hour if you decide to disarm it yourself or just tape the parts you dont want to paint.

Will38

taking off the grill is simple, that I know.. but I'm a noob in painting. I'm scare I might overspray it. Is it that simple?

whiteongrey

That's Crazy. Please send me a hi res photo - want to see how it looks - maybe I'll blow it up for Art. PM'd you my email.

Lacquer thinner on everything except plastic lights. Do a small test patch on the painted grill section first - should be ok. OK to use on rubber moldings.

Will work great - no risk of damage to paint, you'll need lots of rags and work in a fresh air space. Wear chemical resistant gloves as well.

Use plastic polish on the lights.

Savage c-300

OMG!!!! Good luck man!

Peabody

+1 on using lacquer thinner to clean it up.

eminnet

I went through this with my Audi few years ago and cleaned the car using silicone remover solution from car paint seller.
I used one empty household window cleaner to spray the solution on the car and wiping with paper towel.

2008C300AM

My insurance rep at Geico said that your insurance can't go up for comprehensive claims, only collision, if that helps (California). I recently lowered my deductible to $250 so I can get eveything fixed on the cheap from now on - including windshields, fog lights etc. You might want to check into that. Sorry for your mishap, that's just horrible!

Will38

Thanks guy, I used the lacquer thinner that you guys suggest and it worked great. The car is around 95% clean.

Also thanks soldier2304, you were right - taking off the grill and painting it was easier than I expected.

Also my pillars was splash with paint as well, so I order carbon fiber one. Quick question, is it easy to change?

My deductible is $100 which is pretty cheap, but I don't want to deal with the insurance company anymore. Farmers suck :P

jon3sh

Benz shop cleaned mine last month after I brought it for bumper repair. When they returned my car its got paint spray everywhere mostly on the passenger side. Apparently they parked it beside the other car they were painting too. I watch them clean it and talked the guys there and they showed me the paint thinner they use to clean it. After when they re all done I cant even tell that it got sprayed. You just need to washed it again after using it. Im surprised that it didnt even leave any mark on the clear coat.

Sathinas

Wow, that sucks, man. Seriously.

But maybe it will teach you to not follow so closely to the vehicle in front of you? Either that was a ginormous can of paint (aka 5 gallon bucket) and you were far away, or it was a regular can of paint and you were relatively close.

Either way, lacquer thinner works relatively well. I've never tried it to remove paint, but try to Tarminator as well. Just test well in a hidden area first.

justthebest

Most interesting mix of sad and hilarious ever. But I will keep you in my car prayers.

W204white2010

my gosh, this is horrible. I hope everything works out and keep up posted!