Curious problem, white specks all over one half of the car?

[DanielTheroff]

Hey everyone, I've been lurking here for years and finally had a reason to make an account. I recently (about 2 ish months ago) had my 1991 Miata repainted the factory single stage classic red color, as it was beyond repair. Paint looked great (minus having to wetsand out a good amount of orange peel on the finish). Basically over the course of one day, half of the car got covered in these little white specks. It's all over the front bumper, hood, and passenger side of the car. Very small amount of it on the driver side. I tried claying the area with the simple over the counter mothers clay kit, and nothing happened.

I can feel all of these little "bumps" with with the plastic bag method, which leads me to think it's some kind of contaminant.

I feel like this isn't solvent pop as this would've happened long before this, and it also wouldn't of all popped up in the course of a couple of hours in one single day.

What should I do? I'm pretty shaken up about this since this is my pride and joy of a vehicle. Any help is really appreciated!

EDIT: I went to a conservation center which is effectively a massive forest near my house this same day. Tree sap mist?

[DanielTheroff]

Also, I did wash the car very thoroughly before doing anything else to confirm it wasn't dirt stuck to the finish.

[chinee]

Did you do the fingernail test... can you remove them with a little pressure and persistence?

[DUBL0WS6]

Have you tried to remove them with a claybar?

[Rsurfer]

Have you tried to remove them with a claybar?

DanielTheroff
I tried claying the area with the simple over the counter mothers clay kit, and nothing happened.

[Texchappy]

Maybe MDR or similar water spot remover?

[DanielTheroff]

On the passenger rear quarter panel, persistent claying with a nanoskin medium mitt removed it. However, on the more heavily soiled area (the hood), it didn't really change much.

You can barely feel them with a finger nail.

[DanielTheroff]

Have you tried to remove them with a claybar?

I stepped up to a nanoskin medium mitt, and while that worked on the rear quarter, the heavily soiled areas didn't change too much.

[DanielTheroff]

Maybe MDR or similar water spot remover?

I'll give this a shot if my clay doesn't work!

[oneheadlite]

In the How To Remove Tree Sap thread that's also going right now, dcjredline mentioned using a heat gun to soften the spots before removal.

Seems like it might be worth trying since you'd run less risk of marring if it can in fact soften up whatever it is that's stuck on there. Obviously don't go too crazy with the heat though!