Road Paint / Epoxy

[russelldetailing]

Hey guys!

Had a customer call me today with a first for me - some type of industrial grade epoxy was kicked up and onto the drivers-side of his GMC Acadia.

Now, I worked for Sherwin-Williams for a good many years and we dealt with these types of products on a daily basis, ecspecially during summer. I know that these products are nasty strong, and not something I can picture being enjoyable to remove.

He filled me in when he arrived at the shop, his wife had been driving in some construction riddled area, and apparently this epoxy was used as some form of adhesive / sealant under the reflectors in the middle of the street. Apparently the company doing the work told him they will pay for the repairs on his vehicle and he was referred to me to see what his options might be. When I inspected the vehicle I told him his best bet would most likely be to have a body shop replace the plastic trim along the bottoms of the doors, and the plastic fender wheel, as well as some repaint work on the drivers door.

I know that seems extreme, but I have never come across a safe method for removing epoxies, let alone on a car finish.

A little disappointed to turn away business but I'd rather have a customer respect me for knowing when to turn down work rather than make promises I can't keep.

You guys have any tricks? What would you have done?

[Detailing by M]

Re: Road Paint / Epoxy

Here's a recent atempt

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?59732-Road-Paint-Removal-off-a-Dodge-Caravan&highlight=road+paint

[hemi]

Re: Road Paint / Epoxy

Road materials such as epoxies ,and heat applied thermolastic are tough to remove.
Problem is ,the chemicals to remove them may also damage your paint
Tuolene and Xylene are strong chemical removers which can soften and remove some of these but can also remove your paint.
Wet block sanding techniques can work sometimes on paint,you probably made the right decision by refering this to a body shop.

[russelldetailing]

Re: Road Paint / Epoxy

Thanks for the info guys.

I did read that previous post - that was a large part of the reason I was hesitant to give him a definite yes or no until I inspected the vehicle! (Although he did a stand up job judging from how heavy the contamination was on the car!)

I remember selling Tuolene & Xylene on a daily basis for Sherwin-Williams, and I would NEVER EVER dream of using either on an automotive finish, nasty stuff right?! Wet sanding sounds like a good idea, but he had heavy enough contamination on the paint, I really feel it didn't justify the risk to remove...should have taken a pic or two to show what it was like.

In the end I was a little bummed that I couldn't do much to help the customer, but like I said, the last thing I would want to do is jeopardize reputation for the sake of a dollar.