Long story short, I parked under a pine tree and it decided to take a dump all over my hood. I used WD40 to remove most of it but there are still outlines where the sap was. Also, there are rub marks from my wiping...blah. Question is, do you think I could use a slightly abrasive polishing pad with my DA to take a thin layer off of the stripe? Or, do you think I could polish the matte stripe to gloss (this would help the rub marks blend in better)?

My other option is to replace the hood stripe entirely. Not sure how much that would run me

 

Let's see pics

 

Stupid question but is the stripe painted or vinyl? If it is painted the sap probably would have come off using a clay bar. Matte stripes show everything so if you hit it with a DA I have a feeling it would come out looking glossy. Now if those are vinyl and not paint don't go anywhere near it with a DA.

 

https://imgur.com/a/hF7TK
So this is before I tried the WD40 treatment which is why this smudge is so bad. The WD40 did remove most of them, but a couple of them left smudges. Almost all of them left "rings" but they're harder to see, I think I can get those off with clay or DA. I have about 3 smudges like this after trying WD40 and it's probably from my excessive rubbing... I definitely went about this wrong

 

Maybe I am wrong but I thought those are vinyl stripes. You probably should not go near them with a DA, clay bar, compound, etc.

 

They are OEM vinyl. If my only option to make it uniform again is to gloss it, I'm fine with that. Won't make much of a difference to me. Cheapest route is the best route for this, just not sure if there are other options.

 

You can't treat vinyl like you do paint. A DA would damage the vinyl faster than the WD40 did. If you put regular wax on the stripe it will most likely lose the matte look but it won't do much for the scuff marks. Once you scratch / scuff vinyl you can't really fix it like you can paint.

 

That's gonna be hard to fix. I would use some type of vinyl shine protectant to make it all glossy. You can't treat the vinyl like paint. Don't use compound or wax.

Step away from it for a few days. It's not as bad as you think. Look at it was a fresh eye before committing to a 75-80 new stripe.

 

P.s I had several scuffs and scratches on my factory deck lid vinyl blackout on my GTCS. It drove me nuts! However, it wasn't worth replacing coastwise in the long run.

Instead, I just apply trim restorer and buff every detail. It really knocks the scuffs down and I've learned to live with it. I can find the scuffs if I'm really really really looking for them.

That said, You're the only one that's gonna notice it. That's why I say step away from it for a few days.

 

Did you try washing the stripe with dawn dish soap and if that doesnt do it try a litte alcohol on a rag and light rub the area.

 

 

Would he have been better off using a product like Goo Gone instead of WD40?

 

Possibly but most likely the damage is a result of the rubbing motion trying to remove the sap. If using something like a paper towel to remove it, well, that would have marked up the stripe regardless of the product being used. One a side note regarding Goo Gone, if you were to use that on a vinyl stripe you would want to use very little and wash it off completely when done. That stuff is meant to remove adhesive therefore if it were to work its way through the vinyl you'd end up in a worse mess.

 

yeah, that's true.

Nice Michael Bolton/Lonely Island avatar btw. I don't think we hang around in the same subforums, so I've never seen it before lol

 

Lmfao

 

I thought that was Penn from Fasttimes?!

 

That's also what I thought...Spicolli!!!

 

I know I need to redo mine. Something about someone cleaning off a mobile mixer next to my car and the dry cement getting all over everything and then it rains just enough to get things wet and dries.

 

Vinyl matte black stripes are a very delicate creature. Splash something on it that it doesn't like, and it leaves a stain or mark. Rub too hard and it scuffs, or shines. Not to mention having to be careful not to get any wax or polish on them. They are not user friendly.

I scratched one of mine on my rear bumper. Not wanting to go back and have it redone, I bought several brands of flat black paint. I found one that is a 95% match to my stripes. I taped it off, sprayed a couple of coats on and wallah!, good as new. Your result may vary.

 

Wait...is this a North Side joke??