Sap etched clearcoat?!

[kcopwa1]

Hi,



Last Monday, I had to leave my car parked outside and didn`t realize until it was too late that I had parked under a tree. The car was actually outside for a few days, and accumulated a lot of little drops of tree sap and 4 huge drops. I didn`t have a chance to wash it until the following Sunday. I was able to get the large drops of sap off with denatured alcohol and then I applied another coat of AIO and SG to protect the paint. Although I didn`t try too hard, the little drops of sap didn`t come off completely in the wash. (I haven`t tried alcohol on them yet.) You can only see them in bright light though. I`m afraid that they might have etched the clearcoat. It looks like the large drops of sap came out completely without any marks remaining. I had 1 coat of AIO and 2 coats of SG on the car since early July.



What suggestions do you have to get the little drops out? I`ll try to get the little sap marks out with alcohol, but if that doesn`t work, will SMR get it out? I just hope I won`t need to repaint to get them out.



Thanks!



-- Ed

[Jngrbrdman]

Clay is your friend. Get a Clay Magic kit at AutoZone and have at it. Its designed to clean that kind of stuff up. Even after I apply AIO, or even something more abrasive, I can still get a smoother finish after I clay the car. It will pick up the spots that are still stuck to your paint.



Another thing that you might want to do is to pick up some good tar and sap remover. I did a truck not long ago that was covered in sap. I used this stuff on it...



<img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0PABlAJcVOoTvY0!61Y09cAR7I85S1KO!jHszxGaUJVoFf4MiH Q9ihBMCuFML5R1s47xMyYD7kK4OjhYjsAZHWQ5zBD01!xI6/000sapremover.jpg"



It works like a charm. I didn`t even have to clay the car after I used that. It just disolved the sap like water disolves sugar. It wiped clean off and all I did was wash the truck down again and apply some AIO and it looked good as new, if not better. Just a tip.

[rstype]

Try isopropyl alcohol and a MF towel. Or, put a blob of any solventy cleaner wax on top of the sap and let it sit... maybe the chemicals will break it down.



(Dwayne`s boss`s suggestion... thanks!)

[DaGonz]

Originally posted by ejant

Sap will not etch your finish, it is considered vegetation and contains no acidity. Though it is sometimes tough to get off.



As the previous post suggested claying will get it off.



Stuff that was alive like bugs and bird bombs will etch the surface if left on long enough.



I beg to differ.., pine sap is highly acidic and will etch into a paint finish if it crystalizes.