Need deep down and dirty paint resto advice

[TransAmX2]

ok, so my car has 130K on it, i've owned it for about 5 years now and never been able to get the bug and stone impact marks out of the nose. I have experience with wetsanding and polishing on newer paint jobs but I'm hessatant to start wet sanding a 13 year old paint job. I have tried the meguires clay bar and it didn't get much of it, I used store bought paint cleaner & buffing compound same result.

after reading all the posts in the showcar/detailing section i see I should give a medium clay bar a shot. Is there a brand anyone suggests? any other suggestions before I start sanding or should I just give up and go for a new paint job?

thanks for any input

[GoFast908Z]

All clay is made by the same company. Get whichever one you like.

I would not recommend wetsanding that paint. Just wash, clay, polish, seal/wax.

[TransAmX2]

All clay is made by the same company. Get whichever one you like.

I would not recommend wetsanding that paint. Just wash, clay, polish, seal/wax.

thanks, will give it a shot

any auto parts stors carry medium clay or is it more of an online order thing?

[GoFast908Z]

thanks, will give it a shot

any auto parts stors carry medium clay or is it more of an online order thing?

Both the meguiars and mothers clay in most stores is the medium grade.

[TransAmX2]

Both the meguiars and mothers clay in most stores is the medium grade.

dam, thats what I used then, it was the meguires claybar kit with the spraybottle for surface prep.....so im basically screwed?
heres a shot of my cars acne (sorry cameraphone picture not greatest):

[GoFast908Z]

The bugs would have to be polished out by machine. You can't do anything for the chips other than repaint.

[third_shift|studios]

i disagree. the mothers and megs stuff are weak-i would consider them fine grade. Medium bars will mar paint and are typically only available online. Check out chemical guys for their bar, they offer fine, medium, and heavy grades. You'll need to buff out the marring left by med/heavy bars.

Pitting in the paint would need to be wet sanded to reduce it. Try some 3000 grit if you feel like putting some effort into it. Or if you feel confident, do 1500, 2000, then 3000. It will need to be polished to restore the gloss though.

[Z06-Goose]

Unless you have a severe case of overspray, I wouldn't use anything stronger than a fine grade clay.
My favorite claybar by far is the Clay Magic. It should handle just about any condition of contamination on your paint...
Soap and hot water is one way to safely remove bug splash. Wet them wet, soak and gently scrub them off.
Use a cleaner wax afterwards, or machine polish.

[TransAmX2]

there is no "overspray", just imbedded bug guts, the over the counter claybar (have tried both clay magic and meguires now) have not gotten the job done at all, I think I'll order a medium grade bar online and give it a shot, if that doesn't work I'll go for the wetsand and hope not to cut through all the clearcoat, reguardless I have accepted the fact I'll likely be giving her a new paintjob in the near future :/ oh well, one more reason to get a WS6 hood