Tar Plant Accident

tmurph01

tmurph01

New member
A local tar plant had an accident two weeks ago. They had trouble finding someone who would step in and help clean up their employee's vehicles. I was the third detailer they contacted, saw the potential, and immediately made arrangements to meet with them and see the vehicles. I submitted my quote, and they approved. (although I later found out I was the only one they had contacted that was even willing to tackle these)

They had a pipe rupture, which ended up raining tar on everything, including the vehicles in the parking lot. Two of the trucks will be totaled and you will see them below. The rest I have been getting too on my days off from my normal job. Still looks like I will have 3 weeks of constant detailing left. In total, there were 25 employee vehicles, 3 company trucks, 1 stake body delivery truck, and 2 semi tractors that were affected. Looks as though I will end up detailing roughly 24 of these with the semi tractors being a strong possibility. I should also note, this tar is missing the key substance that makes it solidify and solid, so it stays sticky and greasy...

Detail plan consisted of:

Pre treat / soak of a degreaser and tar remover solution
Power wash as much off as possible
Degreaser spray down and hand wash
Clay bar followed by a single stage polish
Wax

All products used were from 3D/HD



Pics...


The two trucks that will be totaled:



The first company truck, which is the worst of the ones I will detail:












An employee truck, this was parked beside the previous one and was very rough as well:










Durango that wasn't too bad. This was during the work. None before and after since it was late:



Kia that had a few spots.





I will add more pics to this thread as I get them, but more in depth pictures can be found on my facebook at: facebook.com/rewardingreflections
 
Badass! I would have use tarx in a foam canon for all that! Why did they total out the trucks, it's just topical.
 
The Driver said:
Badass! I would have use tarx in a foam canon for all that! Why did they total out the trucks, it's just topical.
Click to expand...

The pre treatment was applied with a foam cannon and sat for quite a while.

While this is topical, you have to understand the composition of this tar. This is not your standard asphalt tar. It is a base tar used in roofing and shingle making. It does not contain talk / chalk / lime. Due to this it is extremely sticky and greasy. Even the drops that are on the vehicles I am detailing, it is fighting me tooth and nail to strip. It smears extremely easy which has been a major pain. the two trucks they will be totaling are covered thick and it has seeped down into the vents and every crack and crevice it could. You cant even open the doors due to how sticky and caked on it is.
 
Wow, I would have went straight to abrasion such as clay an then use only pads with a medium to remove what's left. After that those pads get chucked. Great work! I love taking on crazy tasks like this, it's way more rewarding and fun.
 
RTexasF said:
Clay would be clogged and useless within seconds I'm sure.
Click to expand...


The clay held up pretty well all things considered. A lot of the tar we were able to remove with a heated pressure washer and the pre soak. A yellow pad with HD Polish took care of the remaining.

These two trucks are the worst ones so its downhill from here.
 
My first thought diesel fuel or mineral spirits. I did a car that drove through road tar. Apparently they were sealing the cracks in the asphalt and customer drove through it, spraying the entire side of the car, even flung up on the roof . Was a major PIA.
 
Small update. Got another vehicle done today. The weather here is not the greatest and temps were in the 20's all day, but I did manage to get this Tahoe done. Sorry the after pics are not the greatest, I was in a rush to get the vehicle back by the time the owner got off work.

















 
Wow that's insane!!! How long are you spending on each vehicle?

I bet they are paying a pretty nice premium to have this mess cleaned up. If I knew other detailers were turning it down I'd quote high
 
Knocked another one out today. The paint and condition was already rough on this van, even before the accident. Overall, it turned out pretty good.


Before



After



Before



After



Before



After



 
Huge Update! All the "normal" vehicles are done. All that is left is 3 semi-trailer cabs. Some of the vehicles had to be power washed off at a local car wash as the temps were too cold to use my system.

Before:


After:


Before:


After:


Before:


After:


Before:


After:


Before:


After:




Before:


After:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top