EssexBoyRacer

What would a mobile or local valeter charge to mop a car? obviously the exact prices depend on the amount of work involved but whats the best / worst cases prices I would expect?

S3an

you should go to a proffessional like stu at msd , heard they are good at mopping cars.

BillyCabrio

iTrader: (1)

EssexBoyRacer

Ask Benn

Speedy Gonzalez

i've just paid Ł50 to have my 3dr valeted inside and out

looks like a brand new car

Benn 304R

Ł50 sounds very cheap imo

certainly wouldnt get a machine polish for that.

Essexboyracer, will reply to your pm tomorrow m8

Billy_RS

iTrader: (5)

a mate of mine is doing it for for Ł120. Full machine polishing.

pm me if intrested

EssexMikeSi

iTrader: (3)

my car could do with this coz it was resprayed then left for 8months without bein polished after the respray. anyone know of anyone in essex that could help?

FastFordChris

whats it for, the cossie?

i've got a mate that'll come and do it steve, hes a bufty and could use the cash plus hes just bought a mop.

EssexBoyRacer

It for my gfs mondeo we bought.

Its full of light scratches (and a few deeper ones!)

FastFordChris

i'll ask him see what he says, hes pretty good with scratches as his sorted out his brothers polo which was a right mess, that wing mirror looks like its gunna need paint.

you'll have to bring the car here though cos he wont go to slough

dojj

iTrader: (3)

but he's in essex
for Ł120 it sounds like a good deal

how long should it take?

FastFordChris

his gf is in slough

RichardPON

Waht exactly is "mopping"?

I've heard it mentioned loads of times -I presume it's where they use one of those machines and a cutting compound to remove the top layer?

Correct me if I'm wrong, as I don't know!

AndyH_ZS

From the look of those scratches i doubt it could be done with a machine polisher. They look to have cut through the clearcoat and damaged the paint and primer. You possibly could improve the appearance of them but they would still be there.

EssexBoyRacer

Thats exactly it, its like a very drastic T cut.

But the results can be outstanding and is the next best thing to a respray.

EssexBoyRacer

Those pics show the worse bits. Generall the whole car has lighter scratches. We think it used to spend a lot of time on a building site as there's a lot of builders dust everywhere.

FastFordChris

just showed the pics to my mate and he said the same thing, it'll need paint as its gone down to the primer. he said he could try a stiffer pad on it see if it helps.

he'll do the car if you want but as said you'll have to bring it home.

Kam B

id say about Ł60 odd from a decent body shop mate

EssexBoyRacer

these are quite cheap prices we're getting here!

I spoke to a valeting company in slough yesterday and without looking at the car they reckoned on about Ł140.

Look at what these guys achieved with a porter cable

http://guidetodetailing.com/imageview.php?imageId=89

http://guidetodetailing.com/imageview.php?imageId=84

http://guidetodetailing.com/imageview.php?imageId=92

http://guidetodetailing.com/imageview.php?imageId=87

EssexBoyRacer

eh? we cant post pictures anymore?

WD Pro

Spot the 'moped' side

Benn 304R

The prices you've been quoted from valeters is about right imo, personally I would charge around Ł140-Ł150.
Some comapnys base it on about Ł20 per panel.

Judging by the pics, theres nothing you can do with the bad scratches might be able to hide them a bit but will still show.
The other light scratches you can get out if there not too deep.

Can do this by wet sanding with very fine wet and dry, and then compounding or maybe even just compounding if they are very light scratches.

Rick

There is so much more to this than meets the eye. If not done properly. u can cut the car, and it's dull in a month...

White RS1600i

Damn thats come up well!!!

Did you do it ?

WD Pro

Yes the work was done by me with a porter cable. Would be a lot quicker with a rotary but the chance of cocking it all up are also higher, you only need to look around the local BM showroom to see witness of that

The PC is actually quite easy to use if you do your homework and understand polish / pad combinations and the way a polish works / breaks down. The pannels in the photo's are not waxed, the photos were taken after the polishing step.

I believe that those pictures have found their way onto many forums now and I actually found one guy claiming the work was his

smudgerz

WD Pro, thats a top finish mate!! nice one.

Heres two pics of my rs 1800 after a quick mop. The paint was flat as it had been parked up for 6 months.





Smudge

dojj

iTrader: (3)

so if thats the finish after a mop, whats the next stage to keep it looking that shiney?
wax on wax off danial-son?

or is there another trick?

i can see you getting loads of work in the run up to ford fair

MATCOS

iTrader: (1)

I have just invested in a Porter Cable-and although my car wasn't bad to start with it is starting to look amazing now

Taz

so what IS a porter cable then????

I know what a buff is as I have one of those.

Graham

smudgerz

Was thinking the same!!!!

Anyone got any pics or info please

Cheers, Smudge

mrviper

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Porter-Cable-7...QQcmdZViewItem

WD Pro

A fine polish and then a good ‘pure’ wax. The wax will actually deepen the finish and add protection. Same car :

(I know its of the wheel but look at the wing)






The key to keeping them that way is good maintenance – A automated car wash or dirty sponge will spoil it in weeks.

Once in good nick they are relatively easy to maintain. I did a guys (black) Audi about 10 months ago, gave him some tips and recommended products for him to use (after knowing how much / long he was prepared to spend looking after it) and the car still looks great now.

WD

dojj

iTrader: (3)

so, in this order

mop
wax
and then just keep waxing
and cleaning, with a clean cleaner sponge

have i missed anything out?

WD Pro

In simple terms that's not far off.

If cared for correctly and washed 'with' care at least weekly its possible to :

YEARLY - 1-2 Days - De tar, clay, machine polish, hand polish then hand wax.

Followed by :

MONTHLY - 1/2 day - Hand polish then hand wax.

Followed by :

WEEKLY (or more) - 1 hour - wash.

The odd 'touch' up could be needed in between i.e. bird shit, bad tar from road works etc.

The key to good maintenace is good (i.e. non scratching) regular washing so contaminents dont have time to stick (requiring clay).

Use a good wash mit (lambs wool) and use two buckets (one for clean wash, one for flushing the mit) or use one bucket with a grit guard.

Loads of stuff has been written about methods before on places such as autopia. Have a look and find one that suits your time, budget and level of finish you expect.

Bear in mind that the color, type and age of paint on your can can vary its maintenance needs vastly.

On a soft water based clear coat a freshly polished surface would pick up fine scratches from just brushing past it with with jeans or similar. Not allways visable to the average person but doesnt half do your head in when youve spent a day polishing

On the other hand my GF has a silver Puma and you could wash that with a brick and it still look OK

I think you can still download a stunning 'how to' guide from the Autopia site. Careful though it soon becomes a addiction

Smit

iTrader: (5)

Fookin lovely shine on that Golf

WD Pro - Do you do it for a profession? Metalic mop would look fookin smart

Also is Harley Wax any good? Heard stories it fantastic!

WD Pro

Thanks for the comments

I only ‘detail’ part time to make a bit of pocket money. The trouble is its time consuming and spare weekends are limited due to other projects …

What do you mean by Metalic Mop ?

I believe the trade name for the ‘Harley’ wax is S100 which is rumoured to be identical to P21s but cheaper as the bikers wouldn’t pay for a ‘car’ wax. I have a pot of S100 and it seems very good on blacks, blues and purples i.e. dark colurs.

I am inclined to believe the rumours as the P21s and S100 pots are the same colour and size and even use the same text fonts / labelling. If your off to the states you can pick it up even cheaper …

Cheers,

WD

Smit

iTrader: (5)

There is a guy on my local cruise forum selling pots for 15quid delivered. Sounded cheap enought ot have a pot to see what it was like!

dojj

iTrader: (3)

top info there mate

i might have to find you on one of your quite weekends and see if you wouldn't mind exchanging a few quid for your services
but it probably wouldn't be until the end of the year, so plenty of time to get the paintwork painted first