I had tree sap on a few spots on my car so i used the claybar from the zaino detailer kit and it took a lot of rubbing on each spot...I made sure it was well lubricated and most of the sap finally came off but now when it catches the sunlight it looks a little dull even after a z-7 wash and z-5 and z-6. Is there anything i can do to make it look better and get the rest of the sap off?

 

Sorry but I dont think so, just be glad you didnt do what my brilliant sister did to her new pathfinder this week. She had tar on the front and a little on the hood, so she thought it would be ok to put bug and tar remover and just scrub away with an ebrasive green one sides scouring pad you use for pots and pans. hahahah Poor girl. She called me crying, I was like, no your kidding right? She wasnt!!! BEN

 

well.........did u wash the car before clay barring it and how long had this sap been on there. Nissan paint is not the strongest, bird poo made my last nissan have a bit of a fade spot. My experience with clay(I used on Z as well) is it is extroidinary on bringin the paint back to life, sorry it didn't work out for you though.

Brett

 

Did the sap eat into the paint? If not, you probabaly just need to polish it. Zaino isn't polish, AFAIK. Try Meguiar's swirl remover. It's a VERY mild abrasive polish.

If the sap did eat into the paint, you could have someone airbrush some more clearcoat on the area, then buff to blend it.

 

Porter Cable & some liquid rubbing compound will remoe it. I had this problem (biefly) with my Z32. Once complete there was no sign of sap and absolutely no dulling.

Then just start layering the Zaino again.

 

The sap was on there for about 2 days and i don't think it ate the paint at all...there is still a little clear spot of sap on there though...thanks for all the help.

 

you need Menzerna... start with the Intense Polish, then use the Final Polish... for a small section you can do it by hand, for large sections, use a Porter Cable.... you can Zaino over that all you want

 

When I use the polish do i first have to remove the zaino i applied or can i just polish over it and then zaino the car again?

 

I think you should just be able to start the Zaino again... I'm suprised you had problems. I've never had anything but great luck with Zaino.

 

The polish wil remove the Zaino so no need to worry about it. Of course since you want the car to be clean when you start it wouldn't hurt to just wash with Dawn. No need to use Z7 since you'll just be polishing off your Zaino anyway.

 

DrBonz is on vacation...I am sure he would give some advice...

 

This may sound weird, but Olive Oil will take sap off amazingly well. I just did my parent's cars this weekend (we live in the woods). Olive Oil breaks down sugar, which is what sap is mostly.

this, of course, wasn't after my dad ruined the hood of my old 3000gt using the OTHER SIDE OF THE SPONGE trying to get it off.

 

like Bixby said... no need to remove the Zaino.... just wash the damaged section with your normal car wash soap to make sure there's no dirt or whatever, then get on with the polishing...

 

LMAO, my sis did the exact same thing.

 

im sure the claybar didnt dull the paint, ive claybared my car several times and its just fine.

 

When i polish, do I polish the whole car or just the faded tree sap spots...i don't want it to be uneven at all...thanks for all the advice.

 

When you did the claybar what did you use as lube? lots of body gloss products that people use as lube shouldn't be used if there is direct sunlight because they leave a really crappy look in the end. Also remember to wax after (i have no clue what zaino products in your post are)

 

If it were me, I'd do the hole car. Probably not required but thats just me.

 

use 3M mild cut rubbing compound and 3M swirl remover. you don't need a machine to do this. just rub with some towel (i used MF towel) with rubbing compound, and finish off with the swirl remover.

i had to use these to take out tree sap, bird crap eating up the clear coat. works everytime. as long as the paint is still there, this can bring up the shine again.

be aware tho. you will have a swirl-free spots after using these.

 

3M All Purpose Cleaner will get sap off and it won't hurt the paint. It does remove wax so take the tip of a towel, dab it in the can to get some solvent on the towel then gently rub off the tar or sap. Just try to get the tar or sap spot. You can get the 3M Cleaner at auto paint supply stores.