Car cleaning expert required

[Coyoteboy]

Got steel grinding waste all over my poor white car, it's settled and started to rust a smidge (without affecting the body metal, but obviously marking the paint and "sticking" on the surface). Any thoughts on how best to clean it off without requiring a respray?

[Driveby]

Id try a foam lance then a very careful pressure wash at a shallow angle to try and remove most then a very soapy wash with a sheepskin mit or similar deep pile glove (deffo not a sponge) then a clay bar if theres any left on remembering to use plenty of lube and to kneed the clay regularly to keep using a clean surface to minimise any residual damage.  Bin the clay when done as you wont want to use it again with it having metal infestation.

[flyingtele]

We had a car come into the yard at work with paint that had a similar problem. Our car groomer fixed it using a slow speed polisher with a gentle cutting compound that worked through the staining and then applied a coat of wax that left it looking like new.

[Coyoteboy]

Cheers guys, I'll work on both those lines and see how I go. I'll get some clay and try manually at first, I'm cautious of scratching the surrounding paint with a power polisher and I'm starting to run low on paint - some of the sharp areas of the roof lines are going through to base coat :S

[Coyoteboy]

Well the clay bar is certainly removing the bits, but it's going to need a tcut afterwards to get the shine back, it's very faded

[Coyoteboy]

Clay bar, T-cut, meguires No1, no2 and then zaino Z3 (and a very sore arm) and I've removed most of the rusty spots. Unfortunately still a few remaining where I'm basically going to remove the paint to remove the stain. Still, it's shiny again and not milky.  Time to get on with the sills.

[Frikkin Evil]

That's a pity that all the hard work didn't sort it completely. Maybe it's worth getting a partial respray when you're done with the structural stuff?