Expert: William Forster - 8/13/2007

Question
QUESTION: i had some pine sap bake into the clear coat of my wife car.A friend of mine said he could wet sand it out. i tried a few sap remover to no avail.anyway i let him try and he sanded the clearcoat off of th car in two places the size of golf balls.is there any way to spot repair the spot or will i have to get the whole car done?

ANSWER: Only the affected panels need refinished, not the entire car. Spot repairing will produce a poor result, it's best to spot color, then clear the entire panel. Don't hold your friend responsible, the damage was already done by the sun and caustic sap. He was just trying to help you out, and you now know the sap penetrated the clear. It needed painted before he even touched it. Bill

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: so i would paint the spots he already sanded then clear coat the whole panel.can i aply clear coat over whats left or would i have to remove the clearcoat from the rest of the panel

Answer
You sound like you need professional help. Why don't you drop by a local body shop for a repair estimate? I can't teach you how to paint cars in an email, or 10 emails for that matter. The spots need primered, sanded, then color needs applied over them. Then, the entire panel needs cleared. Don't remove the rest of the clear coat. Repair any other damage spots while you are sanding and primering. If there more than a couple small repair spots on a panel, the entire panel will need colored, then cleared. Have a great evening, and good luck. Bill