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WHat does "E E" mean?

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soonermajic

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what all does "E E" entail? I am kinda new, & bought a 3SS/1 IBA.
I am about to buy a 5SS/1-IBA, that comes w/ 2 full-time employees ( prepping, cleaning, repairing etc...).

Could I turn this into an "EE", w/out a bunch of modifications & upgrades ?
 
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Earl Weiss

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The term EE means "Express Exterior" As technology changed the term was re defined and / or re defined. Prior to the 1970's most conveyor washes were "Full Service" meaning the customer got out of the car and interiors were vacuumed , and windows cleaned as well as towel dry and the customer paid a cashier after watching the car go thru.
Then AFAIAC when the customer stayed in the car, paid for the wash up front and exited drove off themselves this was EE. SS vacs my have been offered on a coin op basis. We did this in the 1970's. Starting with a Night Owl Special after regular FS Hours.
Some consider it to have been invented when automatic Pay stations and Free SS Vacuums entered the picture.
To convert an IBA to SS would require a substantial investment for a conveyor and other equipment.
 
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washnshine

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My understanding is similar to Earl's. We used to call washes that only did the exterior- with no option for interior cleaning simply "exterior" washes. These typically had employees with prep guns and brushes prepping the cars before entering the tunnel. Back in the day you did not see as much high pressure equipment mixed in with friction equipment in the tunnel. Some locations may have not even had wrap arounds because the employees would be fully prepping fronts and backs. Some of these locations also towel dried at the exit. Pay stations and gates were not around at that time. Dedicated bug prep arches were not something I saw in these washes either.

Modern "express exteriors" seem to be set up with the pay stations/ gates and equipment packages that can pretty much eliminate the need for manual prep and a lot of labor through the use of full coverage friction with high pressure components as well. This coupled with online tire shine and spot free rinsing to help eliminate towel drying and give a hand finished appearance all combine to put the "express" in "express exterior". But the early exterior only models that I saw and worked at relied on manual labor for money collection, essential prepping and towel drying if they offered that. This reduced their ability to wash the volume of cars that can be done in the express set ups I see these days.
 
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