So to start my Sunday, I said what better than taking out the exhaust to refinish it, so the looks back up the sound it makes. I didn't do the full exhaust yet, since I did not have access to my lift, and also didn't think it would make that much difference unless of course its on the lift

So here is where we start, the mileage on the exhaust is unknown but what I knew for sure is that it needed a lot of love.

A bit of scraping there






First step, wash it thoroughly with hot water and some dish washing soap. Make sure you DO use hot water, this will get rid of all the loose dirt,grease, and all kinds of crap that is just sticking to the finsih which later be permanently be there if not taken care of. Washing it really made a big difference, better than I expected




Then I started using a #00 Steel wool, with Mother's Metal Polish. This got rid of all the oxidition, and bits of rust that were embeded on the finish. If anyone had seen it, they might have thought that my project was done.





But, I am never happy. Continued with #000 steel wool and same polish. Made the exhaust really pop. No oxidation left at all.


BUT I am still not done.


Being a detailer for fun, I absolutely hate swirl marks. And the #000 did leave a bit of those still. So I carried on with the #0000. That made it smooth as a baby's butt. hahah and no swirl marks left. The only problem I faced was that the microfiber towel I was using, would leave some swirl marks itself . Not that it was rough, but because the stainless steel is too soft, IMO, and gets swirled very easily.



And I always like to take a pic of end result with all the products,


Next step, when I get a chance, is to apply some sealant and wax over it to avoid the oxidation as much as possible. And then drop the whole exhaust and refinish it. You might have noticed piping behind the canisters are still unfinished. That's the next step

 

wow I like it. Good job

 

wow thats shiny! looks better than new!

 

wow, looks great, I have the same exhaust but mine is no-where near that pretty!

 

I love your threads. These should be archived in the proper forum!

 

Nice job.

 

Nice! It looks brand new again!

 

1 word.... WOW!

I think I shall do this with my SE single. I usually just use some NeverDull after my washes to shine it up....but nothing like how your DIY makes it shine!

 

Nice work! Where do you buy your steel wool from? Any hardware store?

 

Thanks everyone

Thanks buddy, idk I just like doing such work and lately been taking pics. I have a few detailing ones in "washNwax" section. And had a tonne of DIY Threads on overclock.net when I used to mod computers lol.

Yours just cures the patient a bit, this was bringing back the dead to life lol

I got it from HomeDepot. My bodyshop told me to use #00, but when I went to home depot they had it till #0000 (pretty much as soft as cotton buds). So I got those. If you exhaust is in bad shape, start with the one lower than 00, and go upto 0000