How to polish your stainless steel exhaust?

I've used Meguiars on my Tubi. Works a treat and helps prevent future corrosion.

 

Correct product type of above is: "Meguiar's NXT Generation All Metal Polish"
Hope that helps.

 

i use meguiars at work and its AMAZING!!!!!!!!!
the metal polish leaves things looking like new !

 

I have a Tubi NGT exhaust on my car & it is by far the worst looking part in the engine bay. I tried some metal polish, but it doesn't really work.

Someone said to use muriatic acid (diluted w/ water) to clean it, then it can be polished with a metal polish. Has anyone tried this?

 

Don't know about the stainless used for exhausts, but I made the mistake of cleaning something w/muriatic acid in the kitchen sink one time. Stainless steel is stainless isn't it??? No, it isn't, Muriatic left ugly brown stains on the sink.

Cindy was NOT amused(understatement)...

I ended up spending a full day hand sanding the entire sink with 250 & 400 grit paper to get them mostly off & leave some semblance of the original brushed ss finish. Never did completely look right afterwards. In retrospect, I should have just replaced the sink, would have been a lot less work.

 

The discoloring on the stainless steel exhaust is from the heat of the car exhaust, of course. What "bikers" (motorcycle riders) use on their exhaust pipes when yellowing/blue is a product called "Blue Job" or another product called "Blue Away". These can be purchased at most motorcycle stores.

 

I had a tubi on my tr and when i did the clutch i took the tubi to a metal polishing shop and when finished it looked like chrome and with no elbow grease and a cost of $90 aud.

 

Ton do you have "flitz" metal polish in your country?

It contains a fine abrasive. If not, you can probably find a similar product. Or, check here

http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/compound4.html

the coloring is due to a chemical reaction - I am not sure exactly what compound it is on there that causes the color, but you need to remove it mechanically (with an abrasive). If you want to have a brushed (satin) finish afterwards you could use a medium or heavy cutting rouge compound and if you want to make it sparkle you could then move to a finer cutting abrasive and finish up with a polish. You definitely want to seal it though or it will happen again and you'll have to do it over.

There are lots of paints that can be applied to hot things although I am not sure how hot exactly that exhaust gets but check before you just use any paint - overheating paint will go yellow. My old Viper had silver paint with a clearcoat right over the sidesills which covered the exhaust. It got hot enough to burn your leg and stayed un-yellowed for the 3 years I owned the car.

Wax could work too but IMO a silicone or real wax based product would burn off almost instantly and would need frequent re-application.

 

ask any trucker that take GOOD care of his truck, those 18 wheelers always look like new, the now good cheap stuff to use!

 

On the picture you posted that exhaust looks pretty dull. You might just have to remove it and take it to a buffing machine. It might be a bit much for a hand job ;-)

However, once you have achieved the gloss you want, you can help maintain that gloss by regularly wiping it down with some glass cleaner with ammonia (ie. Windex). Worked pretty good for me, and was simple enough to do on a regular basis.

YMMV.

Cheers, Alex

 

I dont know how much luck you're having to this point but "heat" changes the color of the exhaust. All exhaust and headers that i have had which ranges from Doug Thorley chrome headers to mufflers cause distortions in color. My chrome changed to a light purple as it got closer to the head flange moving away from the exhaust ports. I havent heard of any fix for this. Im going to follow this thread to see if anyone has had any luck but from what ive been told and experienced the heat is the main culprit.

Minion

 

The rear of my transmission is clearly visible behind the valence thanks to the Tubi. Can someone recommend a cleaner to bring out the silvery shine?
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That is cast aluminum. WD40 with a bronze wire brush will make it look like new.

 

On my 355 I sanded down and polished the Ferrari raised letters. Looked great and made the part stand out a bit.

 

in italia con "pasta abrasiva"

 

I use this stuff at work for cleaning aluminum rims. Its an acid and has a strong amonia smell. It makes bare aluminum look new again with no scrubbing, looks like water in a spray bottle that any car detailing shop would have. I dont know the name of the product but im sure it can be had anywhere. It would work well on the clutch cover, it removes brake dust, rust water stains, everything.

 

Castrol SuperClean does wonders on bare aluminum. Don't leave it on too long though.

 

be careful on paint with superclean!!
great product!

 

Do the WD40 thing......

Another tip....

My buddy painted the Ferrari lettering in Red on that tranny. Easy to do since it was raised. Looks AWESOME.

Wish I could do that on my car. He has a 355.

 

one of our costumers has that in a 360, looks awesome!!!