Mike or Joe, Im in a bind!

[SeabreezeDetailing]

Mike, Joe, anyone else thats ever seen anything like this...

I went to check out a job on a customer whom I have Annual Service Agreements on three vehicles with. The client has just made an internet purchase of a 2005 Black Altima. Upon my inspection of the vehicle, I found some extremely disturbing issues. First of all, the paint is in horrible condition, the previous owner has had the vehicle left in the sprinkler systems path for the past 4 weeks. There are some serious water etchings over the entire vehicle (as shown in picture). These will have to be polished out. The vehicle also has extreme swirling and cob webbing (also evident by the pictures).

The final burden on this vehicle lies on the hood. The previous owners child has put Clear Cement Sealer on the hood, this in turn, driped onto the front fascia as well. I have never been faced with something like this on an automobile. I have tried Citra-Gel and Body Solvent with no joy. Because I only use Meguiars products in my business, these were pretty much my only options. Has anyone ever seen this before? Any suggestions? My client bought this vechile to build a custom vehicle (air ride suspension, big rims, etc) but would like to keep the factory finish. This cement sealer has me in a bind. I already take care of three of their vehicles on a weekly basis, and would hate to pass this one up to the next guy. HELP!

Joe (850) 376 - 0007

[detailbarn]

have you tried gasoline or mineral spirts?

if these don't work try buffing it off with some diamond cut. thats what I did on a similar problem I ran into on a van.

the van had carpet gule spilled down the rocker and it wouldn't budge but it buffed off with realative ease with diamond cut and a wool pad on the rotary.


Doug Lucas
The Detail Barn

[SeabreezeDetailing]

Doug,

Because I was just inspecting the vehicle, I didnt want to use anything to strong on the finish. The Cement Sealer is almost a rubbery feeling texture, and its poured on pretty thick. I really dont want to inflict anymore damage on this car thats already done. I seriously doubt the mineral spirits will work, but Ive gasoline a few times on some pretty hairy situations with success. Ill keep that option in mind, thanks for your suggestions. Any pictures of the rocker panels before and after?

[Superior Shine]

Two ways to clean it, mechanically or chemically (even a combination of both)

Mechanically would be to abrade it off with an abrasive be it a compound or something with a rough texture to scrape it off.

Chemically is using something to dissolve it and then wiping it off.

Do some research and find out what people use to clean equipment after using this stuff.

More than likely the best case would be to dissolve the bulk of it and buff the paint as needed to finish the repair.

[SeabreezeDetailing]

You dont think the bond is so strong that it will pull the paint off as well? This stuff is used to hold cement together, and bond cement to other things. Thats the biggest prob.

[CJ from Rocklin, CA]

SeabreezeDetailing.......You probably already thought of this but.....You might want to try and contact the manufacturer to ascertain what can be used to remove the cement sealer.

[benhui86]

u can probably find a black hood from a salvage yard in better condition in that...... looks like that thing was a real beater for the previous owner....

[Love My Ride]

Man that's ugly!!

That's a detailer's worst nightmare!!

Hey Joe, hope you don't take this the wrong way, i know it sounds simple and takes a little $ out of your pockets, but how about suggesting to your client that he have the hood re-painted?

I've seen pictures of your work and i'd have full confidence that the rest of the car would look as good as, or better than the freshly-painted hood.

Good luck top man!

[SeabreezeDetailing]

Heres an update.

I spoke with a gentleman locally that owns a concrete company. The sealer is removable from paint. There is a chemical that is sold at speciality construction stores that actually removes even portions of concrete aparently. I am still unsure of the name of the company that makes it, or the formula itself, but he has used it to get concrete splatter off of his company trucks with no harm to the paint (we will see). He was nice enough to let me take a look at some of the trucks, and is going to even let me test this out myself tomorow evening with some sealer. Ill post the results.

[RLdetail]

I was going to suggest replacing the hood too!

If it's going to be a custom does he have plans to go with fiberglass or carbon fiber hood? I so I wouldn't go too far trying to remove ALL the cement sealer.

Good luck with the "secret cleaner"!

[Mike Phillips]

Hi Joe,

Sorry for my late reply to this but when you posted this I was in the middle of a Saturday Detailing Class. There's not much more I can add that Joe/SuperiorShine hasn't already added.

As we spoke about over the phone today, take with you a collection of solvents and first test in an inconspicuous place on the paint to make sure it doesn't dissolve the paint, and if the solvent passes this test then try it on the cement adhesive.

You might look for the non-acetone fingernail polish remover as a product to try also.

Best of luck and we're all wishing you success!