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Tree Sap Recovery - Almost There


RayS

Question

The 2009 Range Rover ended up covered in tree sap and needed some overall love.   There are multiple pictures and I used the opportunity for some experimentation since I know I have more work to do later.

 

The first picture is how it looked when it was delivered to me just after sun up this morning.  The second picture is of the wheels and they are always nasty on the Rover and we're hoping the new ceramic brakes and new rotors will help the situation.  IMG_0444.JPG

 

The wheels and tires are always first, then the vehicle gets washed and final touch up on the wheels, so the third picture is after the full wash and touch up of the wheels and I'm showing the products and tools used to get them cleaned up.  The picture in the garage doesn't do them justice, you'll be able to see the actual shine clearly in the final picture. 

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The  Rover has a full glass top, which has a lot of etching and was covered with tree sap also.  I forgot to grab a picture before I washed it, but I'm sure you can imagine based on the hood in the first picture.  The first picture of the top is after the rinse and the next one is the after using CB 2.0 as a drying aide. Even with all the etching, it came out very good and the CB added clarity and reflective properties that had not existed before.   This is my first time trying CB on a sunroof, so I'll see how it does before I try it on the Terrain.

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For the scary picture, the next one is after the wash and dry with the Rover in the garage and looking at the hood.  I'm very thankful for APC, Plastic Razor Blades and Car Shampoo.  While most of it came off with diluted APC, there were some tough spots that required a little extra lube and the plastic razor blade.  For the windshield, I used straight APC and one place had to use a plastic razor blade.

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Now that the worst is over, it's time to start polishing - not so fast...  Good news is that I'm finally going to get a 15 mm Swirl Killer, the bad news is that I ended up doing the entire Rover by hand.  I knew I was going to be in trouble or very sore, maybe both, so I went with One Step Polish.  I did do a test spot with Revive and it just wasn't quite enough and the test spot with One Step Polish looked good.  No doubt it was a shortcut to get it good enough, with a plan to do a full correction later this summer.  I also knew I couldn't go with Correcting Polish and Finishing Polish by hand and do any better. 

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I must say that it came out better than I expected going with One Step Polish, then Paint Sealant followed by Americana and topped with Brilliant Glaze for the weekend Pop.

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For reference, when I started this morning it as 76 with a heat index of 80 and right now it is 94 with a heat index of 105.  I'm sure glad that I'm done for the day.

Edited by RayS
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6 hours ago, shane@detailedreflections said:

Nice work. I couldn’t imagine doing that job by hand or without a steamer. 

 

Good job. 

Thanks Shane.  After you posted your video's about the steamer a few weeks back I put that on my list of items to get.  

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6 minutes ago, mc2hill said:

Wow Ray, just reading that you did that whole thing by hand makes me tired!

I'm paying for it today, old equipment and body...  I'll get my replacement equipment ordered this week.  I just have to decide between the battery operated and electric.  Given that my old equipment was 20+ years old, it was question of when not if it would die.  The only concern I have about the battery operated swirl killer is whether it will last 20 years, like a plugin model should.  I always have to think how often it will be used, maybe once a month, so that is why I'm leaning toward the electric since I know batteries have a more defined life expectancy. 

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On 7/14/2019 at 9:44 AM, shane@detailedreflections said:

Nice work. I couldn’t imagine doing that job by hand or without a steamer. 

 

Good job. 

What steamer do you use? I've noticed you mention this steamer on a lot of different topics and I'm interested. I saw the videos you posted a little while back. I feel like I need to take a class on the use of a steamer in the detailing industry.

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Steamers are easy to use. We use a Vapor Chief 125. The machine we use is a little under $2,000. It allows us to mix chemicals in the line and to refill it while it’s hot. 

 

A great steamer that’s more economical for most doing their own work is a McColluch MC1385 Deluxe. It can be had for just under $200. It doesn’t have as large of a tank or the pressure and can’t be refilled while hot, but for most people those are non issues. The pressure of ours is great, but the heat and steam is where it’s at.

 

https://chiefsteamer.com/product/chief-steamer-car-wash-industrial-steam-cleaner-125-psi/

Edited by shane@detailedreflections
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