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How to make my pipe and silencer shiny again??
Posted: 05:32 pm Oct 12 2005
by Ryan
hi, when i got this bike the pipe and silencer wernt doing all that great. They are not dented but have a good amounr of rust and they ar duul. Is there any way to clean this up at least a little??
Posted: 05:56 pm Oct 12 2005
by KDXGarage
If you are not worried about getting it perfect and new, I would suggest a worn green Scotch-Brite pad and some water/WD-40, etc. I cleaned a couple of my FMF pipes using that method and it worked well on the little rust dots. If a worn pad is not abrasive enough, try a less worn or even a new pad. A new pad will be most abrasive and a worn pad will be less abrasive depending on how worn it is.
Posted: 06:09 pm Oct 12 2005
by Ryan
ok thanks i will try that, im also gonna try to sand the silencer then buff it out. But i have another question for you all. I am going to repack my silencer. I got the packing and took the back of the silencer off. I have cleaned the thing but the front part of the silencer still has alot of carbon and old packing that i cant get out cause it is too far in, is there a way to clean this or no??
Posted: 08:18 pm Oct 12 2005
by KDXGarage
Sand the silencer?? That sounds risky to me.
Someone rece3ntly had a thread about getting out the deep-down in it packing. You may want to look back for that one.
Posted: 08:33 pm Oct 12 2005
by Ryan
ya i think i did something to it

, it looked like there was a layer of something like paint or chrome on there that i took off, but it is nice and clean, the color is just darker. Do you think it would be safe to buff it out?? Or should i just stick with the scotchbrite pads??
Posted: 11:56 pm Oct 12 2005
by KDXGarage
Hi. Sorry to not distinguish earlier, but I only used the Schotch-Brite pad on the exhaust pipe, not on the silencer/spark arrestor. The pipe is steel, but the silencer/spark arrestor is aluminum. I'd be very creful on cleaning it.
Posted: 04:46 am Oct 13 2005
by wsjkawasaki
you can use a product called never-dull it comes in a little round can it has the cleaner imbedded in a roll of cotton you rub this stuff in like you would wax then use a seperate rag to buff out brings out a great shine!!
Posted: 06:16 am Oct 13 2005
by FLAKDX
I use Mothers mag and aluminum polish on my silencer. I can polish that bad boy out till it looks like a mirror, just use a paper towel, rub till the towel is black as night and buff out with clean paper towel. Never Dull works good to but my personal preference leans towards Mothers.
On your chrome coated pipe I would start with a good chrome cleaner polish first to remove rust dots before I laid into it with a scotch brite. Your gonna scratch it if you use a pad. Jason's idea of a VERY worn pad is pretty good but personally I would look at a chrome claener/rust remover first. Heck even get some Naval Jelly if you can find it. I hate to say it but once they have started to rust and the first pit appears it's ALWAYS gonna rust again.

Posted: 06:28 am Oct 13 2005
by kdxquebec
I use scotch brite with water and after

AUTOSOL/DURSOL metal polish paste.Works awesome.
Here's something I know about
Posted: 06:35 am Oct 13 2005
by Mark W
There are many different types of Scotchbrite. Green is very aggressive. I would try to find some Scotchbrite Type T (it is white in color) You can probably find it at an automotive jobber site or maybe even a NAPA store. Type T is less aggressive than the green and should easily do what you want it to do.
Other options. Soft scrub with a towel if you don't want to buy a specific metal polish. Another thing to look at for the rust is to purchase some gun cleaner. This stuff is made to chemically remove small rust dots from gun metal - should work real well on the metal pipes as well.
Hope this helps.
Mark
Posted: 06:54 am Oct 13 2005
by Indawoods
Mother's metal polish is the best thing I have ever found. It's very economical too! It chemically removes deposits on metal and even works great on plastic signal lenses on the truck too....
Posted: 08:04 am Oct 13 2005
by Ryan
so i should try to use the mothers metal stuff to get the rust off and then use a scotchbrite pad and or chrome polish to make it shinny??
Posted: 08:12 am Oct 13 2005
by KDXGarage
I used the Scotch-Brite pad to get the rust spots off. In the original post, you mentioned, "clean this up at least a little". I was just focusing on the "good amount of rust" part. I don't think I have ever tried to polish an exhaust pipe, so I can't be of much help on that. Sorry for any confusion.
Posted: 03:35 pm Oct 13 2005
by kdxquebec
I bought my fmf pipe on ebay.The condition was horrible!! Anyway I paid 26$ for it. Nobody bet because of the condition (big dents and rust)
After a good job I took a picture but i forgot to take a picture before.
The dents where removed by my local dealer and the polishing job was made by myself with water/scotchbrite and autosol paste.
look the results!!

Posted: 03:37 pm Oct 13 2005
by KDXGarage
GOOD JOB!!
Posted: 03:43 pm Oct 13 2005
by Ryan
what scothbrite pad did you use and what is that other stuff you are talking about. ANd how long did it take to do all this cause my pipe is probably the same shape yours use to be in
Posted: 04:06 pm Oct 13 2005
by kdxquebec
Thanks Jason!
Autosol is a metal polish.World-famous Autosol polish provides a brilliant gloss and long-lasting weather protection on all metals from aluminum to zinc. It removes rust and oxidation without excessive abrasion - perfect for chrome and nickel plated parts. Great for polishing fiberglass and plastics, too. Made in Germany
If you can not find this product in usa look for Dursol or equivalent.(substitute)
The scotch brite i use was red and abrasive made by 3M. I took the pad where I work.
The job took me aprox 2 hours. and a lot of elbow grease
here`s an other shoot!! good luck!
I remember that night...I slept with my tune pipe.

Posted: 03:52 pm Oct 14 2005
by Ryan
what scotch brite pads should i use to remove the rust but that wont make my pipe look complety scratched?
Posted: 06:00 pm Oct 14 2005
by Green Hornet
Ditto to kdxquebec-Flitz Metal Polish works great also
Posted: 06:02 pm Oct 14 2005
by kdxquebec
beware!
my pipe was so uggly.
so using scotch brite dosent matter on my uggly pipe.
I think Using a scotch brite pad on a near-new pipe will scratch a little .
Use only the autosol

paste on recent pipes (no s-brite pad). and before do a test!!!!!