You can test the paint in a small area with a variety of thinners to see if you can clean off the oil based paint with mineral spirits. That's what should have been done right away. Paint thinner will not harm your car's paint job.
the jingling and dull thud sound might indeed be the same item. My guess is loose nuts on the shock tower or spring and you might try bouncing up and down on each corner of the car to check the condition of the shocks. The jingling may be evident when you do this. You also could try stuff called 'goo-gone' to remove the oil paint on the roof. Read the can before you buy it.

congrats, hop on the wagon wagon.

so- the jingle- I had this. it was an air cleaner mount heat sheild that had fallen down inside the spring. it can get in there from above, inside the engine compartment, where one would use the MB spring compressor tool. but it cant get out, except the same way.

or the aircleaner mounts themselves.

jack it up and pry on stuff- you'll find the clunk. in my experience, balljoints squeak. so my vote is shock tower. look at the rubber mounts. there should be one on each side of the sheet metal.

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1984 123.193 372,xxx miles, room for Seven.

1999 Dodge Durango Cummins 4BTAA 47RE 5k lb 4x4 getting 25+mpgs, room for Seven.

okay-

So the jingle was the "anti-rattle" clip on the front brakes. (appropriate, eh?) They were broken and there were pieces in there rattling around. And the clunk ended up being loose brake calipers- tightened them up- no more clunking.

no major stuff... after tweaking the vacuum system and modulator the shifting flare is gone. This car rides so nice! now on to the valve adjustment this weekend so the gasket can be replaced and she stops spewing oil. drives me crazy how messy it is under there....

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81 300td wagon
79 vw rabbit diesel
99 f250 diesel
00 vw beetle
73 MGB GT