Love Bug Hell

[MuahMan]

If you live in Florida or Georgia you know to what I am referring. (perhaps other places as well). I had front row tickets to the last Shuttle launch the other day. Took my nicely polished, waxed 2 week old car for the trip. Well on the way home I ran into the Love bugs. I don`t mean a few love bugs. I mean get off every other exit and try and make a hole big enough to see the road on the windshield. Big black clouds of love bugs, even started overheating my car cause they were all up in the radiator. I don`t know that it will ever be the same. :yell: I can`t get these things off. Are there any suggestions? Douse the entire car in bug and tar remover and let it sit for a half hour? Hot water. My car is destroyed. The only thing positive out of this is now my wife will have to let me by a Porter Cable polisher! :)



p.s. Has anyone sucessfully found a Porter Cable xp polisher locally? I can`t find anywhere to buy one and I`m desperate to fix my car. I guess I can wait if I have to.



Thanks!

[Bill D]

Welcome to Autopia, Muah Man!



I`m in Florida and I saw the really bad love bug issue on the day of the launch on the news. There are several "recipes" and techniques that many can chime in with and share but I`ll share what I would do in that situation, granted I`ve never yet had a severe case of love bug splatter because I`m already off my rocker about constantly wiping down my cars :o That said here`s what I would do:



Get those bugs off the car ASAP! Love bugs are highly acidic. Combine that with high heat and humidity and etching is very likely to happen. Wash them off with high pressure if necessary. There are specialized bug sponges you could use if really necessary but always try to go with a soft mitt as much as possible ( my choice is sheepskin). Prepare to spend a lot of time getting as much off as possible if theres hundred of them caked on.



You could then clay off the remaining carcuses and/or use a combination of bug and tar remover. I`d use a microfiber to try to keep marring of the paint as minimal as possible.Keep on going over it and over it with several passes if necessary.



I personally wouldn`t stop at having all the bugs off. It might not be truly necessary, but I do it any way ( and the same goes for bird bombs) The acid from all those bugs can still be in the paint. You need to draw it so moisture doesn`t reactivate it and still possible cause etching later on. (Much how acid rain also affects paint). I`d spray down all the area with 50/50 isopropyl alcohol /water to help dry it out. Let it dwell. Then you can wipe orr rinse it off.



Then, final step, is neutralize that remaining acid. I`d use some baking soda very finely mixed in with water and I`d let that dwell for a bit too before finally washing everything again.



I would do all of this in lieu of having the Valugard ABC three product, three step decontamination wash. Only big time pros and extreme enthusiasts tend to have it. Since I do have it, I`d just wash the area with those three products, after I remove the bugs.





You can be as detailed or as abbreviated as you`d like with the bug removal process. There are good products locally or online that do help remove them well but I am unsure if they address any issues with residual acids. Once they are off, do reapply a quality sealant and/or wax to your paint. At the very least, it will help getting off other bugs you pick up later and it will retard the acid.



Oh yeah, be sure to hose down your radiator good too. You don`t want bugs accumulating in the fins and possibly eventually causing clogging issues.



Sorry for the long read, hope this helps. :wavey

[15951]

I spent 22 years in Florida, including a few years of rural commutes that ended up like you describe. The best thing you can do is remove them when they`re "fresh", before the sun bakes them into the paint and hardens them. I was dealing with removing them on a daily basis, so I didn`t want to make a project out of it until I knew they were gone for a few months. I did the following:



1. Wash off as many wings and guts as you can with a strong stream of water. A pressure washer is best, but use whatever you have.



2. Once you do the above, either presoak in bug remover - Surf City Road Trip Grime Destroyer is the best I`ve used - or a very strong concentration of your favorite car wash. Let it sit for a few minutes while you swear at the love bugs still flying around and landing on your car.



3. If you use the Surf City product, you can wipe the "remains" off with a mitt or microfiber. Rinse often, and prepare to be disgusted at the cemetary created in your wash bucket. If you used car wash, then you can gently remove the bugs with a bug brick (the best one I`ve used is this one (http://www.autogeek.net/pinsafscrub.html).



Pretty soon you`ll have a nice collection of dead bugs on your driveway, but it doesn`t really serve as a warning to the others. In fact, they`ll land on their deceased breathren and continue doing the nasty without a second thought.



Like the post above mentions, it`s worth hosing off the radiator fins to make sure you don`t get it too clogged up. I`ve seen all manner of ridiculous "solutions" during love bug season (mesh over the front of the car, people spraying cooking spray on the paint, etc.), but nothing beats a good durable sealant. I found Zaino and Klasse AIO to hold up pretty well, but reapplication needs to be frequent, especially if you use the Surf City product.



Good luck!

[MuahMan]

Thanks so much for the two awesome and very detailed responses. I cannot believe the carnage these swarms did to a brand new car. I`ve had dealings with the love bugs before but never have I seen literal thick black clouds of them hovering in the middle of the highway. I would really like to kick whoever introduced these things to States square in the nuts. I guess they have no predators outside of South America so they are here to stay. My car was so thoroughly covered in bug guts I went threw three bottles of bug and tar remover. Scrubbed with a microfiber mitt. I did this 4 times. 8 hours later I got most of the bugs off but the surface felt terrible. I ran out and bought McQuires (spelling) clay bar and that seems to be doing the trick. I do think it may have etched the paint some but at least it`s smooth. I went ahead and ordered a rather huge car detailing kit with Porter XP dual action polisher, various cutting, polishing, sealing, and buffing pads made by Lake Country, Wolfgang swirl remover, polish, and sealant.



Thanks again for the helpful posts.