I've had some issues with this problem on both my '55 Belair and my '57 Chevy pickup.
The Belair is bc/cc. Pro-Spray base with SPI Universal Clear.
The '57 pickup is Pro-Spray single-stage.
I've had to cut and buff to get them out since the etching is quite bad.
I don't know why but I haven't had the issue with my factory painted cars (a 2007 Buick and a 2014 GMC).
Are factory paints less susceptible to this?
Not sure but a preventative is something like show and shine (spray glaze)
Also you might try a clay bar next time, usually they work pretty good for this.
I'm no expert but bird crap etched the paint on my Cadillac last November. Pretty sure it was from a turkey vulture, based on the size and color of the crap -- and because Boca Raton, Florida is an ancient nesting ground for them. Because I don't drive the car very often, the crap sat on the paint for almost two weeks.
I sprayed the area with water and wiped it off with a terrycloth towel. Towel went in the garbage -- talk about toxic waste!
You can see the etching and it wasn't going away with just a clay bar and compound.
After a couple of rounds of fine sandpaper (1200 to start, 4000 to finish) the clearcoat was flat again. Not shown are four more damaged spots fixed the same way.
Chemical Guys Optical Grade Polishes #32 -- #38 brought the shine back (thanks Shine!).
Now I just have to cut and buff the turds dropped on it at the GM factory. The amount of peel in the paint on this car is shocking. I bought it used (5-years 11,700 miles old) but this was a $70,000 car when it was new.
Should never happen within washing off in a given amount of time but over the years have seen it and I got the feeling it has to do with the type of bird and what they eat, maybe they snack on acid, who knows.
Thanks guys. I'm just not sure about what I said about refinish paint and factory paint being any different. Maybe they are not. It just seems like I haven't had the problem on my 2014 GMC and 2007 Buick. However, I just acquired my son's 2008 original Corvette and it has a couple of bird poop etches on it. Only one bad one though. My wife was also telling me that her good friends relatively new car has several bad ones on it and she's not happy about it.
I've been doing some general Google searches and pretty much coming up with information that says there's really no wax or sealant that is very effective. No more that just buying you a slight amount more time to get it off. They've either got to be removed pretty fast or there is going to be at least some amount of etching. But, I do think that the type of bird and what the eat probably has a lot to do with the severity of etch and the amount of time it takes to do the damage.
I also ran across a website (AutoGeek) that shows a couple of different types of bird poop damage:
The type I was complaining about is like more like the first example. Those can be cut and buffed out if there is enough film thickness to do so. I think Bob's photo is a better one of this type of damage though.
This second type is through the clear can't be cut and buffed out. The bad one I found on my 2008 Corvette is kind of like this one and it's in the removable top. It's hard to see unless it's in a certain light so I'm not going to repaint it. None of my other cars have had any of this type before.
Should never happen within washing off in a given amount of time but over the years have seen it and I got the feeling it has to do with the type of bird and what they eat, maybe they snack on acid, who knows.
On my '57 Chevy pickup (the one with the Pro-Spray SS in dark green), I parked it behind my house and it was only there maybe 2 hours before I saw it got hit and washed it off. It got etched in a two places in that amount if time. After getting rid of them by a cut and buff, I then put and expensive type of wax sealant on it. But, my wife drove it to the inlaws a couple of months later and it got hit and etched in a few places again there. I just got those cut and buffed out a couple of days ago. This time I think I will put the wax sealant on it again followed by a good carnuaba wax.
Like many others here I'm never got into even trying paint sealants or very much into waxes either. But I have started using some of the waterless car wash stuff a few years ago ( blue colored liquid) between water washings. It has a little glaze product in it which helps stuff to not stick as bad & soften it for removal, which really should be ASAP. But I do agree with Barry, maybe some of the birds snack on acid or something, actually berries & whatnot do make their stuff more potent.
Maybe feed the birds tums.
