builthatch
04-22-2011, 09:56 AM
i was enroute to the tire/wheel shop to drop off tires. after that, i had to go to PA and pick up wheels that were just powder coated. well, somehow, on the way to the tire shop, i see dark little splatter spots all over my windshield and d-side window. they look like bird doo that splattered or oil. i have no idea when it showed up, or how it got there, but it showed up in the blink of an eye. so i pull into the place and get out to see that it is all over my truck. it is evident it eminated from the direction of the d-side front, meaning maybe a vehicle that passed me on the left side. so this place has a detail shop on the premises so i asked if i could borrow a microfiber and some instant detailer just to lightly touch the spots up. they give me a cloth and product and it doesn't budge whatsoever. of course i'm not going to grind at it - i figured it if didn't come off with a little pressure it needs something more.
so i detour to come back to my house to wash it and the crew who is changing the stones in my driveway is there, working full force. i pull down the street, and try opti-clean. nothing at all! it didn't budge, even with soaking. so i touch a few of the spots with prep sol and it comes off instantly. i study the finish and notice it isn't damaging the finish, at least from what i could tell in that light, so i figured the opti-seal was trapping these spots. it seemed safe to leave for a while so i went on my way to PA. after SEVEN hours of driving because of accidents and other nonsense, i come back home and before the sun goes all the way down, i brew up a dawn wash. it does nothing to the spots. while the truck was wet, i sprayed 1:1 opti-clean on the main areas, let it sit for a bit, and wiped. nothing. so it looked like a prep sol wipe down was in order. so i rinse the truck and notice the 1:1 powerclean streaked the glass and paint...###. i should have known, as i never use anything more than 10:1 on body paint, MAYBE 3:1 on rare occassion, but i never let it sit because it will streak. (OE wheels are always fine at full strength, BTW). so now i HAVE to polish it, at least in those areas. so i dry it, pull it in and hit it with a green pad and poli-seal. that does alright - it removes the streaking quickly but the spots take a little while. i could wipe down with prep sol and then polish but i decide to just hit the hood, roof, front bumper area, windows and entire d-side with optimum polish and green pad since i have to remove the streaking anyway. while doing that i had halogens on and noticed a few light RIDS but i was simply too beat to sit there and make it flawless. anyway, that does the trick in wiping out the spots, i touch up a few spots on the inner lip of the flares with prep sol, give the entire truck a no-rinse wash and then hit it up with optimum spray wax since between the dawn/powerclean/prepsol i had no LSP left. around 1:15 am i was done.
i still have no idea what the spots were. they were really dark and splattered in really straight lines. on the glass, they were more round and light brown. the strange part is it seems it came from a higher source, not from the ground.
so i detour to come back to my house to wash it and the crew who is changing the stones in my driveway is there, working full force. i pull down the street, and try opti-clean. nothing at all! it didn't budge, even with soaking. so i touch a few of the spots with prep sol and it comes off instantly. i study the finish and notice it isn't damaging the finish, at least from what i could tell in that light, so i figured the opti-seal was trapping these spots. it seemed safe to leave for a while so i went on my way to PA. after SEVEN hours of driving because of accidents and other nonsense, i come back home and before the sun goes all the way down, i brew up a dawn wash. it does nothing to the spots. while the truck was wet, i sprayed 1:1 opti-clean on the main areas, let it sit for a bit, and wiped. nothing. so it looked like a prep sol wipe down was in order. so i rinse the truck and notice the 1:1 powerclean streaked the glass and paint...###. i should have known, as i never use anything more than 10:1 on body paint, MAYBE 3:1 on rare occassion, but i never let it sit because it will streak. (OE wheels are always fine at full strength, BTW). so now i HAVE to polish it, at least in those areas. so i dry it, pull it in and hit it with a green pad and poli-seal. that does alright - it removes the streaking quickly but the spots take a little while. i could wipe down with prep sol and then polish but i decide to just hit the hood, roof, front bumper area, windows and entire d-side with optimum polish and green pad since i have to remove the streaking anyway. while doing that i had halogens on and noticed a few light RIDS but i was simply too beat to sit there and make it flawless. anyway, that does the trick in wiping out the spots, i touch up a few spots on the inner lip of the flares with prep sol, give the entire truck a no-rinse wash and then hit it up with optimum spray wax since between the dawn/powerclean/prepsol i had no LSP left. around 1:15 am i was done.
i still have no idea what the spots were. they were really dark and splattered in really straight lines. on the glass, they were more round and light brown. the strange part is it seems it came from a higher source, not from the ground.