My 95 Z has 100's of sap spots. When you flick the lump of sap off, a black spot remains on the clear coat. Other than polishing compound, I haven't been able to find anything that will take it off - commercial bug & tar products and kerosene didn't work. My question is: how do you get rid of the "haze" that the polishing compound leaves in the clear coat? I know this is the result of the fine grit in the polishing compound. Waxing the finish seems to help, but you can still tell where the polishing compound was used. Does the entire finish need to be rubbed out?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

First of all, did you get out all of the spots and issues, because if you have spots still in the paint that look like rings, then I suspect that you could have gotten some clearcoat failure in those spots.

If not, then the very next step for you is to use a polish to neutralize the paint surface. The polish will remove the haziness from the harsh cleaning of the compound. You can use any of meguiar's line of polishes, or mothers polish or shop around and compare. I have had excellent results from mothers and meguiars. Did you notice something? (how I left out the paint cleaner.....if you compounded the entire car, then using a cleaner will be redundant). If you did not compound the entire car, then before the polish, you should definitely use a non abrasive paint cleaner, with either of the brands I mentioned, or a very good brand to get would be gliptone's pro-buff. Gliptone's pro-buff cleaner is an excellent non abrasive cleaner that will definitely clean up most mild issues on your paint.

After your paint is well cleaned and polish, then you can apply your (pure) wax or synthetic of your choice. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the response. The clear coat looks OK. I think the sap just leaves a stain that comes off with the polishing compound. I'll try the Meguiars 3 step clean/poilsh/wax system and see if that removes the haze left by the polishing compound.

 

You should see results. Black is perhaps the most tempermental and durable color to have. It can take a lot of abuse, and will respond very well to cleaning and wax. The downside of black is that you can SEE everything, from little nicks and brushes, to paint cutting scratches, and BAD BODY WORK, so remember that when its time to have work done to your paint or body.

Enjoy!