How To Clean Stainless Steel Exhaust Pipes

On Tour On 2 Wheels we have a good article on Cleaning stainless steel exhaust pipes which gives background on why they go from nice shiny to yellow blue as well as tips on how to best polish and with what materials.

How to clean stainless steel exhaust pipes. The stainless steel part must be thoroughly cleaned. Paint this solution on header with cheap paint brush. When in the air and heated up the molecules in the chrome fall apart and allow oxidation and bluing he says.

After it finishes smoking use a rag to wipe the shit off the pipes. Wash with soap and lots of water to get the abrasive bits off. If you have a lot of carbon buildup or scratches applying light pressure using automotive-grade 000 or 0000 steel wool.

Use the wheel brush with the degreaser to get as deep into the exhaust pipe as you can. Use Autosol Bike Cleaner or Autosol Fast Clean and Polish 2- Apply either Autosol Metal Life Saver or Autosol Bluing Remover and let it work for a minute or so. Rev it a bit you dont need to actually ride it and let the pipes heat.

How To - Restore your Stainless Steel Header or Exhaust Wed Jun 24 2009 728 am Im doing this write-up to help all of us out there that has an old header that used be good looking and now its just a couple of pipes. It has certainly worked for me. Get them ceramic coated or switch to stainless steel headers which go brown but can be restored with metal polish.

In my cleaning job this time I used Luster Lace and after having done that I used Autosol Stainless Steel Polish. The Luster Lace is a 40cm 16 lace which has been drowned in polish material. I own a motorcycle Yamaha TDM 900 with a stainless steel exhaust system - I guess type 304 as it is non-magnetic.

Heat effects Stainless Steel exhausts allowing your shiny pipes to go brown and rusty. A two-step passivation procedure provides the best possible corrosion resistance. Much like preparing a cast iron pan.