Does Ceramic Coatings prevent bird etching? Answer is:

[KEVINS]

Friggen NOPE!
As a few of you know I just did my car in CSL/EXO V4 within the last few weeks in a Hail Marry effort to prevent or minimize the bird etchings that I fight on a daily basis.

Well, today I got my answer and the coating didn`t help at all.

There are two coats of CSL and one EXO V4 on this fender. The car was in full shade downtown while I sipped a latte` and chatted with a friend for 5 hours. Sometime during this session a bird crapped on my fender and when I got home I saw it and immediately wiped it off with water.

The only way to fix this is to sand it with 2500 or finer and re-polish the spot.

ks

[The Guz]

See if it goes away after a couple of days sitting in the sun after you clean it up. Noticed this Gloss Coat and Sonax CC36. This is of course if the bird dropping wasn`t sitting too long on the paint.

[KEVINS]

See if it goes away after a couple of days sitting in the sun after you clean it up. Noticed this Gloss Coat and Sonax CC36. This is of course if the bird dropping wasn`t sitting too long on the paint.

From past experience it won`t go away. I`ve even had an issue where I sanded and polished an area that had been etched for a summer and was able to removed all hints of the etching so it was completely gone and in 6 months it came back in full force as if I never did anything to it.

ks

[Mike lambert]

Polish it until it’s gone, sit it in the sun and see if it comes back. If it does you’ll need to repeat the process until it’s gone. A lot of guys doing coatings were having the same problem with water spots after baking the coating. Kevin Brown wrote an article on it I believe.

[DaveT435]

The etching should be on the coating not the paint. The coating becomes the sacrificial layer. Remove the coating and it should be gone.

Even if it is only etched into the coating, that`s bad if indeed it was only 4-5 hours. My daughter unfortunately lets them sit on her car for days. In the Texas sun the surface temps probably get to 130-140 and I`ve never seen anything like this. What kind of car??

[KEVINS]

It`s beyond the depth of the coating and into the paint. When looking at it closely it`s obvious that the paint is deformed/blistered and you can see it in the pic. This is a normal experience I`ve been having with the cars paint even before the coating.

Think and believe what you want I`m just posting my experience.

Enjoy your weekend.

ks

[DaveT435]

It`s beyond the depth of the coating and into the paint. When looking at it closely it`s obvious that the paint is deformed/blistered and you can see it in the pic. This is a normal experience I`ve been having with the cars paint even before the coating.

Think and believe what you want I`m just posting my experience.

Enjoy your weekend.

ks

I`m on an iPad, can`t see the picture very well. I`m not doubting you, sorry if it came across that way. I`m just wondering what it is the birds are eating where you live. That`s bad. My neighbor does have a black Honda and I know they will etch his paint if he leaves them on there for very long. Nothing like that though...that`s crazy, CSL/EXO combo is pretty stout.

[Oneheadlite]

Polish it until it’s gone, sit it in the sun and see if it comes back. If it does you’ll need to repeat the process until it’s gone. A lot of guys doing coatings were having the same problem with water spots after baking the coating. Kevin Brown wrote an article on it I believe.

Cliff’s notes version question - is this the idea where since you’re getting spots when the paint has been in the elements getting heated/expanding, but your defect removal/correction is taking place when the panel is cooled/contracted, you’re not able to get all of the defect removed?

I think I`d heard that discussed on an Ammo NYC podcast a while back (possibly/likely with Kevin Brown). Is this something folks here have run into?

[The Driver]

I just PPF full cars now, way easier lol.

[SWETM]

I just PPF full cars now, way easier lol.

Is ppf more resistant to bird drop etching? Or is it easier to correct them?

To Kevins is this happening from every bird drop you get on your car?

That is some sad things to get and wondering also what those birds is eating. When you take it of next time spray a couple of sprays with an APC or other alkaline based product and let it dwell for a little time. And do not wipe it off and spray a QD or a waterless wash solution to get the lubrication and then wipe it off. Repeat after the dropping is off and it`s to neutralise the acids in the bird drop. So you feel all is gone and not still etching after wipe off. And see if that`s helps to get the damage from it a bit less.

[KEVINS]

I just PPF full cars now, way easier lol.

Is ppf more resistant to bird drop etching? Or is it easier to correct them?

I`m curious myself. I`m guessing there are different brands of film and some work better than others?
What does it cost to do a complete car?

Can a film get "corrected" ie polished, etc to remove scratches, minor defects?


Does a car with a film on it have the same shine? I can see where it could be a bit duller..?

ks

[Accumulator]

KEVINS- Yikes, those birds must be really something! Sorry you`re having to deal with this...given how badly the guano etches, you might consider neutralizing it with something alkaline rather than just rinsing it with water.

[KEVINS]

To Kevins is this happening from every bird drop you get on your car?

Yep but it depends on the length of time it sits on the paint but I`ve had it etch the hood within a three hour time frame with no ceramic coating. The above pic was within 5 hrs with the coating.

ks

[KEVINS]

KEVINS- Yikes, those birds must be really something! Sorry you`re having to deal with this...given how badly the guano etches, you might consider neutralizing it with something alkaline rather than just rinsing it with water.

That`s a good idea. I should probably go back and neutralize with something so if I decide to polish it out later it will help keep it from coming back.

I was really hoping this would solve the issue so I could get the car repainted but now there`s no way I`m going to have it done if I can`t protect it.

ks

[The Driver]

I`m curious myself. I`m guessing there are different brands of film and some work better than others?
What does it cost to do a complete car?

Can a film get "corrected" ie polished, etc to remove scratches, minor defects?


Does a car with a film on it have the same shine? I can see where it could be a bit duller..?

ks

Film is definitely more Glossy, your adding up to 10 mils of actual clear to the surface.

Newer films can`t really be polished but they do self heal, older films can be polished though.

Cost is about 5-6x the cost of a professional coating. Ballpark is around 6.5-8k to do a whole car. It really depends on what is the purpose of the car and if it`s an invest + overall cost of the car. My whole front end is done and my car is worth maybe 12k, yet the job realistically would cost 2k so that`s over 15% of the car`s value. That`s not necessarily a good fit.