Have I removed enough contaminents?

[93ls1rx7]

I am working to bring my 02 Dodge truck back to life paint wise. The previous owner parked it under trees for a long time and I spent a lot of time clay barring to get the tree sap off the car. The "bumps" are all gone but I can still see the "image" of the sap in the pain especially if it is slightly damp.

The paint is pretty oxidized.

My questions are these:

1. If there is any sap left on the car when I start with an orbital, will it hurt anything or will something like FG400 remove the last of the contamination?

2. The car is pretty oxidized, should I start with FG400 or SP1500?

3. Is it ok to leave the truck for a few days after doing the clay bar before polishing?

[tuscarora dave]

You're probably looking at an etching caused by the acidic nature of the sap eating it's way into the paint. If that's the case, clay won't remove that.

You say "orbital".... Are you talking a cheap wax spreader type polisher or a DA such as a Porter Cable 7424XP or a Griot's Garage 6" ROP? The cheap wax spreader will do very little to improve the condition of your truck's paint, in fact it would likely just scour the paint rather than polish it up to a nice gloss.

So 1. Is there still sap on the truck or are you just looking at an etching caused by the sap?

2. What's the model of polisher you're wanting to use?

All the sap needs to be removed before polishing/compounding and you need to have the right tools for the job.

:Picture: Feed back please

[BFEHB]

I think there are several products out there that are specifically designed to remove bugs, tar and tree sap. You could do a search and review those items to see if there might be one ideally suited for your needs.

[93ls1rx7]

I have a griots 6" da so I have it covered there.

I THINK it is just etched. I can't feel anything with my hand and I can't feel any more friction with the clay bar.

I do have some tarx I could sray on to make 100% sure if it will hurt if there is still some sap on there.

[93ls1rx7]

Here are some pictures if they help. I tried to take one along the level of the paint. Hopefully you can see what I mean by the pics.

As size reference the heavy oxidation is probably 3" across

[lawrenceSA]

Are you sure that the last picture is oxidation - it looks very much like clear coat failure to me:dunno:

[93ls1rx7]

It MAY be clear coat failure.....

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

In the first picture it looks pretty bad. If I were to correct that, I would start with dampsanding to correct that. Do you have any experiance with sanding?

In that last picture it is indeed clear coat failure. Nothing will fix that but a re paint.

[ShaunD]

That thing is one step from a repaint. The last pick is CC failure and the scratches look like the beginning of CC crazing. Either way the etchings may be too deep to completely remove. IMO that paint job may only be worth do a one step and or a cleaner wax/sealant. If you do attempt to "correct" it you will probably need a wool pad to get any kind of decent results with some of those defects.

[BobbyG]

Here are some pictures if they help. I tried to take one along the level of the paint. Hopefully you can see what I mean by the pics.

As size reference the heavy oxidation is probably 3" across

Unfortunately there's quite a bit of clear coat failure here and the best way to fix this is to repaint the section.

[93ls1rx7]

Thanks for the input folks. The truck wasnt taken care of prior to me owning it so I am trying to get her to survive for a while until I can get back to the US to get a reasonably priced respray.

Any recommendations to prevent the damage from getting worse (stopping rust etc) over the next two years?

[MattPersman]

02 rams had bad paint and are all doomed for rust unless it's an exclusive southern or western state vehicle that never sees winter.