How to get baked-in sap off?

Do not use that scratch X stuff. You don’t have a scratch on your paint so why would you use it, your over thinking this. I’d suggest to watch some YouTube video. You need a light compound and polish that can be found at any Car part store. You can do the whole truck or just that small section.

If you truck feel like sand paper go ahead and clay bar the whole truck. Make sure you have a clay lubricant or use lots of soapy water while claying.

 

Enough of the area so that when you are doing your buffing motion you don’t reach over to an unclayed portion and get contaminants in the pad which will lead to scratching and marring your paint.
So every painted area you may touch, clay it.

Apply some Scratch X to the pad and buff using the microfiber pad until the stain is gone. Buff excess polish off with a microfiber towel. No need to rinse.

 

Scratch X is a name of a cutting polish. What matters is the type of polish/compound being used NOT the trade name of the product.

Scratch X IS a light compound polish that can be found at any car part store

If you don’t have detailing knowledge don’t provide detailing advice.

 

Yepp don’t listen to me OP I know nothing, I always try to avoid detailing stuff here cuz it’s not a detailing forums it s truck forum. Simple meguiars compound and polish lineup from autozone or any store will do the trick and inexpensive. I’ve used scratch X before...

Good luck OP. Worst case scenario is that any local detailer can fix this.

 

Sorry for the questions but by order of strength does it go Scratch X then ultimate polish and then ultimate compound as far as meguiars goes?

 

Pee On It!

 

So you're saying you're a Car Pro.

 

Fanboy of carpro products

 

Just noticed a bit if swirl and hazing from my prior attempts. Will scratch x 2.0 remove this too or should I stop and seek a professional?

 

Yes it will also remove the swirling.

Honestly, you’ll do best with a machine. I highly recommend Porter Cable 7424XP. Its about $120. Great little machine you can use for detailing work (and other things, I just bought a home and I plan on resurfacing my shower inserts with it).
I recommend it because its very difficult to paint correct by hand and takes a tremendous amount of work. A machine is much better and faster. Plus some levels of correction you just can’t acheive by hand.

A polisher, backing plate, set of polishing pads, polish, and a set of quality microfiber towels will run you about $275.
In my area you’ll typically pay about $300 for an exterior detail with 1 level paint correction (for the whole Tacoma).

Now detailing work is addictive so it ends up costing much more over time LOL. My arsenal is probably tipping $1,500 but I did some side hustle detail jobs to pay for it.

If detailing is something you think you’d enjoy I recommend spending the cash for the machine and essentials. It will pay off in the long run. You’ll want to polish once a year to remove swirls and you’ll always have little oopses youll want to fix. Always paying a pro is expensive.

But if it doesn’t appeal to you, go to a pro. They’ll take out the swirls and the etching.

 

I'm a bit out of my element so I'll go to a pro. Any idea on what something like this should cost?

 

For just the hood and if the tree sap does not require wet sanding, probably $100-$150 depending on area. I live in a major city so prolly more like $150.
Wet sanding could be more.

 

Okay I'll scope out some places Monday. Maybe this is a good excuse to get the trd pro hood decal.

 

Stumbled upon this video today, seemed too easy:



Rapid Remover

 

I like your previous comment about the hood decals being ugly LOL

This can be fixed. Don’t worry.

 

I'm taking it to these guys http://www.luxusottawa.com/, seem to be the best in town, guy said it sounds like a 1 hour job at $79.99 per hour. Getting an appointment for the week after next probably.

 

Waterless hand cleaner, the type with no grit.

Goop and Gojo are 2 brands that work well.

 

So I took it to the detailer this morning and he tried everything up to and including wet sanding with no results. He cleared off the scratches I made myself but told me it's Type 2 etching which has sunk under the clear. Since my paint is 1-stage didn't advise going further.

He told me that this may possibly fade out over time completely or to where it's not as clear.

Next stop was the dealer, service manager straight up told me this isn't covered on warranty and he thinks applying a lot of heat could make it evaporate.

So here's where i'm at. At least now the scratches are gone but I don't know whether to leave it and hope the sun fades it or get those graphics.

 

How long was the sap left there? Months?

Thats a bummer.

If it were me I’d leave it and stash some cash aside each month until I had enough to repaint.
You will not convince me to put those graphics on my truck lol. But thats just me.

If it makes you feel any better I scratched the crap out of the side of my truck moving last week.
I’m saving up for a new paint job on that panel.
It burns.

 

Weeks, lol.

I wouldn't want to devalue the vehicle and for the money you need for a good respray job I could probably trade up to a 2019. I'll ride it out, the scratches I made were worse than the stain so at least he took care of me there.