Mitigating Love Bug Holes

[fromthecoast]

My wife's car has a good bit of holes burnt through the paint by lovebug buildup from before we were married. I know that they will never go away because the paint is missing BUT now that I have a G100, what would anyone suggest to mitigate the damage and improve the look? In addition to that there are some shingle scratches from Katrina that I am going to try and tone down a bit as well. Looking for any pointers. I really don't have any aggressive cut products. The only thing I have in my arsenal that might apply is #80. I'm not sure if that will get me far enough. Suggestions?

[Thejoyofdriving]

Re: Mitigating Love Bug Holes

Love bugs?

[Lydia]

Re: Mitigating Love Bug Holes

Love bugs are bugs with guts that are so strong, they eat through your paint. In the south, there are times during the year when there are so many love bugs, the front of your vehicle will look black after driving for a few hours. Unless they are washed off, they will leave little holes in the paint where the guts burned through.

To the OP: I suggest you try a test spot with #80. I'm not sure what will work, but there is a good chance #80 will help make them less noticeable. Hopefully someone with more knowledge and experience will chime in here.

[BlueZero]

Re: Mitigating Love Bug Holes

Plecia Nearctica a.k.a. Love Bug, March Fly, Honeymoon Fly, Telephone Bug, Kissybug and Double-headed bug.

Quote taken from Wikipedia...

Its character as a public nuisance is due not to its bite or sting (as it is not capable of either) but to its apparently highly acidic body chemistry. Because airborne love bugs are drawn in enormous numbers to roadways, they die en masse on automobile windshields, hoods, and radiator grills. If left for more than an hour or two, the remains become dried and extremely difficult to remove, and their acidity pits and etches automotive paint and chrome. Scrubbing deceased love bugs off the front of one's car immediately after the evening rush hour is a twice-yearly ritual for commuters in the Gulf South. The use of dryer sheets makes cleaning love bugs off your car much easier.

Like Lydia said, I would give #80 a try and see if it helps.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Mitigating Love Bug Holes

Here's an old catch phrase about scratches that applies to the Lovebug etchings...


"Sometimes you can't completely remove a scratch but you can often times
improve a scratch to the point that you're eyes cannot easily see it"



Same thing applies to these types of below surface etchings, you cannot, or at least your probably cannot remove them completely, but a few passes of the M80 Speed Glaze should improve them visually so that they are more tolerable.

The other problem will be having any kind of paint care product dry white inside the etchings, when this subject has come up in the past people have used a strong spray of water to flush the residue out as well as the usual methods for removing dried residue including toothbrush, detailing brush, toothpick etc.

[E-Jag]

Re: Mitigating Love Bug Holes

Just as a sort of primer, love bugs do, obviously, etch paint. It isn't because they're acidic, however. They aren't. Their body fluids are basically neutral, tending only slightly to acidic. However, if the egg mass, which numbers about 350 per female, and body parts are allowed to remain on a car for an extended period of time, the BACTERIAL ACTION brought about by death and decay increases the acidity of the corpse and etches the paint.

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E-Jag