Smart Repair > Car Hood Cleaning & Restoration
Restoration for convertible hoods and vinyl rear windows
Same Day Service!
Convertible hoods are tough to keep clean and prone to fading, when not maintained and kept outside they age very quickly. Fabric hoods can attract mould and moss, while the plastic rear windows often fitted on cabriolet vehicles can become cloudy and scratch easily.
Without maintenance, you can expect a convertible hood on a cabriolet to last around 6-8 years before it will need replacing -- caring properly will double this life span to around 12 years which is the life span of most cars. As a replacement hood can cost between £600 and £3000 depending on the model, it makes good sense to reproof your hood every three years. Even reproofing once or twice in a lifetime can pay dividends.
Price Matrix
We use Renovo® products - Renovo Stockist
| Hood Service | Normal Price | With Valet |
| £87.97 | £69.97 | |
| £126.77 | £108.77 | |
| £153.97 | £135.97 | |
| £192.77 | £174.77 | |
| Plastic Window Refurbishing Services | Only available with the services above [Why?] | |
|---|---|---|
| £19.97 | ||
| £39.97 | ||
| Price Matrix | ||
| Hood Service - 2 Seater | Normal Price | With Valet |
| £87.97 | £69.97 | |
| £126.77 | £108.77 | |
| £153.97 | £135.97 | |
| £192.77 | £174.77 | |
| Plastic Window Refurbishing Services | Only available with the services above [Why?] | |
|---|---|---|
| £19.97 | ||
| £39.97 | ||
| Price Matrix: 2 Seater (Small) | ||
| Hood Service - 2 plus 2 | Normal Price | With Valet |
| £109.97 | £89.97 | |
| £169.97 | £144.97 | |
| £179.97 | £159.97 | |
| £257.97 | £237.97 | |
| Plastic Window Refurbishing Services | Only available with the services above [Why?] | |
|---|---|---|
| £19.97 | ||
| £39.97 | ||
| Price Matrix: 2 plus 2 (Medium) | ||
| Hood Service - 4 Seater | Normal Price | With Valet |
| £119.97 | £99.97 | |
| £174.97 | £150.97 | |
| £199.97 | £176.97 | |
| £269.97 | £245.97 | |
| Plastic Window Refurbishing Services | Only available with the services above [Why?] | |
|---|---|---|
| £19.97 | ||
| £39.97 | ||
| Price Matrix: 4 Seater (Large) | ||
Weather Protection - Fabric Hood Proofing
Weatherproof protection with Renovo® Ultra Proofer
All fabric soft tops come with an invisible 'weather proofer' already applied, but over time this special coating wears away and needs replacing, or else your soft top roof will be left unprotected from the elements. It can then become weak and more prone to damage. [more] Convertible Roof Repairs
There was a sudden summer downpour before we could fully reproof this hood [more]
Renovo® Ultra Proofer protects your convertible hood by creating an invisible chemical barrier which repels water, prevents dirt and grime, tree sap, bird droppings and road salts from penetrating into the fibres and doing damage. Ultra Proofer's special formula also contains UV inhibitors and agents to prevent mould and mildew. Prolongs the life of your soft top and the value of your car.
Before the Ultra Proofer is applied, your
hood is washed and brushed in detail using a variety of specialist
hood cleaning products. The convertible hood is then fan dried.
This clean and especially the dry is the secret to whole process.
Your car will also be given a quick wash so that you won't
be collecting a dirty car with a clean roof! This level of service
is ideal for most cars that are no more than a few years old, where
the hood is reasonably free from mould, moss and lichen -- for
older, dirtier hoods, you may also require the Hood Machine Clean
[below].
Your hood is cleaned, fan dried, re-proofed and fan died again. We normally need your car for half a day - please allow a little more time if it is a rainy day as it will be especially important that we get it properly dry.
Recolouring for Fabric Hoods
Recolouring with Renovo® Soft Top Reviver
Re-conditions and re-colours fabric hoods which have become faded. Available in black, brown and blue.
IMPORTANT: Soft
Top Reviver is not a
protective sealer coating and requires Ultra Proofer Weatherproof
Protection [above] applied
over the top - therefore this service is not available as a stand-alone
service.
In 90% of cases, cleaning will
refresh a hood to the extent that it doesn't require re-colouring.
Cleaning by Hand
Over the course of time, hoods soak up and absorb huge amounts of dirt, grit, and organic matter which needs to be removed before any further treatments can be added. And yet most fabric hoods are rather delicate... so much so that a pressure washer can cause permanent damage. We carefully clean your hood by hand, and then we'll dry it ready for the next stage of the process.
Machine Cleaning
Some hoods that are really dirty and have attracted a covering of moss and lichen can benefit from cleaning with twin headed electric brush. This form of cleaning can cause wear, but there is no other way on some hoods.
'Its messy work!'
Cleaning a hood, especially machine cleaning, makes a real mess. You'd be amazed just how much dirt and grim comes out of a hood, and we'll keep going till the water runs clear. Polishing rear windows is also a messy process. And of course, recolouring involves dyes... need I say more?
Nobody would appreciate us handing back a car with a pristine roof, but with the rest of the car splattered with muck! So during the course of any of the services listed on this page, we end up cleaning up the mess several times. And so this is the reason that we why we package the services the way we do and offer a discount on these services if you are having your car valeted.
Plastic Window Restoration
Many convertible cars have soft clear plastic rear windscreens which collect fine scratches, become stained by acid rain and become cloudy and opaque with age. This causes your otherwise perfect car to look unsightly as well as limiting rear vision which can be dangerous. It can costs several hundred pounds to replace these windows with new plastic, but polishing with a twin head machine polisher can remove most of the problems. To give the very best finish, we then polish the hood again with Renovo, also applied with a machine polisher. Renovo® plastic polish is a special polish especially formulated for the restoration of plastic rear screens on soft-top cars, leaving them clean and clear. Renovo® have tested their product on plastic rear windows, perspex screens, lights on light aircraft, boats, yachts and cars. We have found that in all but the very worst cases, Plastic Polish can restore a window back to an acceptable condition.T "Visibility of plastic rear screen much..."
Plastic Window Restoration - Hand refinishing
For windows that are lightly scratched and slightly hazy refinishing by hand will usually yield superb results. Renovo® Plastic polish will remove light scratches, cloudiness, discolouration and restores transparency on cabriolet windows and plastic lens covers. It also cleans and conditions, helping to soften vinyl which can become brittle.
Plastic Window Restoration - Machine refinished
For more seriously scratched and aged windows we recommend refinishing by machine. We use the same products as listed above, only we apply it with a machine polisher.
Convertible Roof Repairs
Hood repairs are not usually viable, especially on modern cars where the roofs are very sophisticated. Although it can be done, a replacement is sometimes the only option. [more]Examples from our Hoods Q&A
We don't do hood repairs or roof replacement here at New Again, but we are happy to point you in the right direction. If you have a damaged hood, please take a couple of photos of the damage and upload them to Ask the Experts. We'll advise you of the best way to get it fixed.
