detail nightmare

[chuckie669]

Went over to my parents to help my dad clean off road crud from a construction zone (all we can figure). Got there to find the worse case scenario.

Stuff looked to be almost like the paint they use to put the white lines on the road. There was everything from large splatters to tons of microscopic specs covering almost every square inch of the body and underneath.

Washing didn't touch it, claybar wouldn't budge it. luckily 7 hours and a porter cable got it under control. We were able to get everything but the sideskirts and wheel wells.

pics are cellphone so not the best once it got dark.

[Zapper2003]

I'd be furious.

[silverWS6]

Good work but I would make the city pay for that stuff, then again nothing like father and son time

[SeVeReDiStOrTiOn]

Looks like he drove through something by the splatter on fenders/wheel well..does he remember driving by any road construction?

[chuckie669]

there was one section with construction. I told him that looks like small claims type Shit, but dunno how you'd prove that.

he definitely drove through it. his front bumper and headlights were covered. I imagine the car in front and behind and after that etc also had this stuff. I couldn't scrape the windshield with my fingernail.

glad I keep an adams polish stash.

[Hot Black Trans-Am]

I've had that happen on my wife's car with road tar. So I do feel for you and this made me go back to that awful place.....

Nice work getting it cleaned up!

[5.0THIS]

Wait... so you used the porter cable to get all of that crap off of the finish?!?! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! You only use a buffer when the finish is perfectly clean. I'm sure it did pull it all off, but it will have also taken off alot of clear coat with it since everything on the finish becomes an abrasive as you use the buffer. I hope I'm just misunderstanding. There are paint cleaning chemicals you can buy from dupont, etc, that will break down tree sap and stuff like this without hurting the clear coat

[chuckie669]

I know 5.0. was really not pleased about how I had to do it, but kept the pads cleaned best possible and dumped them after.

Bands new pass for swirl removal, polish and wax

[chuckie669]

What would you suggest for the sideskirts and wheel wells?

[5.0THIS]

What would you suggest for the sideskirts and wheel wells?

Well, you can try mineral spirits or nail polish remover. After using that though you do need to wash, clay and re-apply sealant and/or wax. Dupont 3939s is a paint cleaner that should work, although I'd recommend making sure through dupont that it wont hurt your paint finish. WD-40 can dissolve road paint and sap as well. Not sure if you've ever seen them, but they make plastic razor blades that could knock it down. Just some ideas, but go with the least aggressive to start and go on from there.

[chuckie669]

I've tried those plastic razorblades and they def won' work with all the uneven surfaces at the bottom of his car.

May try the mineral spirits tho wd40 is also a fantastic idea. forgot how many times I've used that to debadge and remove misc goo.

Thanks

[pop6482]

I would recommend something like this:
Cement Concrete and Tree Sap Remover

[chuckie669]

thanks for the tips, will look into that stuff.

Other than the low spots, the car was lookin better than the day it was new.

[INMY01TA]

This happened to my old Camaro. Same white paint behind my pass side front fender. Mineral spirits wouldn't touch it. Luckily (ironically) someone keyed my car and all this was gone when I got it back from the body shop.

[tnthub]

In the 1980s I was a project manager on a major bridge reconstruction in Portland Maine. The subcontractor we hired to repaint the steel beams under the bridge initially failed to use adequate over spray protection and we found about 250 or so cars in a manufacturing plant parking lot that had a light mist of drab green bridge paint all over them. We immediately notified the plant owner and contracted a professional body crew come out to correct the problem. The insurance company for our sub contractor paid for the work but we initially had to pay up front.

By the time we the work was done the vehicles all looked better than they did prior to the mistake and we made certain the owners of the vehicles were happy. Bad press can be a nightmare for a construction company when a problem like this happens.

[chuckie669]

if that ever happened to my c5, I'd have to go sell it. undercarriage would never be satisfactory.