Old tree sap.. Help!

[Hpkazan]

Hey guys.

I need to post quickly so here I go:

How do you guys deal with very old tree sap on car paint?

We've always ended polishing the concerned panels when we try to remove very old sap because any other ways we tried (tree sap remover, alcohol etc doesn't work..

It is normal having to polish very old sap everytime to remove it???

Thanks for your insight guys !

[Don M]

The trick is not to let it sit for so long ;) Have you tried auto adhesive remover like for decals ect?

[Hpkazan]

I absolutly agree.

But I forgot to mention because I was in a hurry when I posted.

I actually do new car preps at a dealership.

So we have no control on the sap falling on the lot cars prior to the car being sold and given to us.

Today I prepped a car that has been on the lot since 2013!! Ouch that's old and it showed.. Sap all over the hood and roof. Really nasty embedded stuff.

So that's why I asked if anyone had a solution for this type of old annoying sap. (Before considering a long polishing session) :)

[oldmodman]

I helped out a neighbor that had six month old pine tree sap all over his wife's Caddy.

He had taken it to a couple of local "Car Wash Detailers" and they had all told him that they could compound it off.

I tried another method that worked just fine. But it did take all weekend.

I got a couple of gallons of Turpentine and some old bath towels. I folded the bath towels into quarters to make them nice and thick and absorbent. Then I set them on the paint surface and poured the Turpentine over the towels and let it dissolve the sap (turpentine is distilled from tree sap). It took about 15 minutes on each section. And a second application on the heavier spots. Those were the areas where the sap had built up on top of other drips.
It eventually got all the sap off the finish.
Then it was just a normal correction after that. Wash, decontamination (with Iron-X), clay, compound (very mild), and finally a little Collinite love.

The Caddy looked almost perfect, except for the dents and scratches of course.

[novaman]

I recently had a spot of tree sap on the hood of my Lexus RX 350 that I didn't notice for a few days and I tried turpentine first and that got some off and then I had to use Megiuars 205 with a microfiber rag to get the remaining.

novaman