spots

[dick]

I have a 98 Expedition (white) that has small spots on the rear that look like rust spots. From 3 or 4 ft away you can hardly see them, it just looks like dirt. If I use cleaner polish they will go away with a lot of rubbing. Using fine cut cleaner they come off easier. Polishing compound will also remove them. On the test areas I can see no damage to the paint once they are gone. I've not looked at them with a magnifing glass.
Anyway after reading several things on your board I'm confused about the best way to handle this. On spots that are partially cleaned I can see a small black spot that will scrape of with my fingernail and I don't see anything under it.
Do you think these spots are rusted all the way through or something on the surface?
BTW there are no under paint rust spots anywhere. A neighbor of mine said he's heard of this on Ford paint before.

[Bri9801]

Is there anyway you could post a picture?

Sounds like maybe clay would take care of them.

BTW.....I have a 98 Expedition too. I love mine

[2000]

have you tried clay? if its what I think your saying i, it sounds like rail dust. can you take a photo? Rail dust is very small metal shavings that fall on your vehicle during transport and end up getting embedded into the paint. after setting there it can rust. I have a white dodge work truck that had this very bad, clay was able to take it right off. if your rub your hand lightly across the vehicle you might feel light bumps than after you clay it should feel as smooth as glass. clay will work as a contaminate magnet and pull this stuff of your vehicle. It is very easy to use, and you'll be surprised at the difference it will make in the way it makes your paint feel.
hope this helps.

[dick]

I've never heard of rail dust. It sounds like something from the train when it was delivered. That was several years ago.
I have it at the local body shop getting a couple dings fixed, I'll try to get a picture of it when it gets home. They are very small so they might not be visible.
When I took it to the body shop I asked them and they thought it was particles from the brake dust!!!!!! I've never heard of that either, but it would help explain why it's worse on the rear. Also we just returned from a trip of about 3000 mi pulling a camping trailer.
I tried 2 local places that sell Meguiars products and they don't have the clay. Also for some reason the Meguiars store doesn't work on my computer, doesn't respond.

[2000]

they use metals in brakes to so its along the same lines. keep trying to locate the clay and I promise you'll be happy with the results. I have to order my clay, did you try to call meguiars.? they take orders over the phone as well! get the quick clay because that comes with a bottle of quick detailer, thats what you use as a lube for the clay. just spray the qd on the surface and rub the clay where you sparyed. fold and kneed the clay often, and becareful not to drop it on the ground. give your vehicle another quick wash and your ready for polishing and waxing. (or just waxing if your surface is in good shape.) its really easy and doesn't add alot of time to your work. you won't need to do this every time eithier, just once in awhile.

[dick]

I got it back from the body shop today & I also found some Meguiars Overspray Clay at a paint store. It seems to do the trick and it's unbelieveable how smooth the paint is after using it. I've got about 2 sq ft done and there doesn't appear to be any damage under the spots. I took a picture of the worst spot. It's pretty close and some of them look bad, but from 3 or 4 ft away it just looks like dirt. In the upper center is a spot that has not rusted yet. I popped it off with my finger nail after I took the picture.
Thanks for the help, I was in a panic when I washed it after our trip. I thought the whole rear part was rusting away.
Right now I'm using the clay with Final Inspection. After that I'm using the Cleaner/Wax.
Is there a better way to go?

[oldmodman]

That looks exactly like what was on my car when I bought it.
I picked up my car as it was driven off the transporter. Took it right home and carefully washed it. Then into the garage to start claying. Since the car was bright yellow it was hard to see some of the really small rust specks but there were hundreds of them. Ninety percent were on the upper surfaces but there were still plenty on the sides. It took about six hours to go over the entire car. Some of the specks were deeply embedded and took considerable work to remove but at the end of the six hours it was worth it. If I had asked the dealer to get them off some kid in the "detail shop" would have taken off half of the clearcoat trying to remove them.
You just can't beat clay to get that garbage out of your paint!
A couple of tips on using clay. Use plenty of lubricant on the paint. You shouldn't feel hardy any drag while moving the clay over the surface. After you have done a fairly small area (say half the hood) you should fold the clay over onto itself, roll it into a ball and flatten it out again. Do this several times until it looks like a new surface has been presented. This will allow you to use one piece of clay for quite a while. This is assuming that you have a clean (clean-not necessarily smooth) surface to start with. And if you drop the clay on the ground throw it out. If you pick up even one piece of grit you could really scratch up your paint.

[Don]

Because of the shape of the rear of my car and the spoiler, a lot of "stuff" gets embedded in the trunk, rear bumper. Much of it looks like what you describe. It's all the same thing though...rail dust, brake dust etc. Sometimes a cleaner wax will remove it, other times you need clay. It's nothing to panic over, it just means a little extra work now and then