So last weekend i got to take the exhaust headers and the pots down. The headers were simply in bad condition.
As far as i can think of - they've not been cleaned since they were put on the bike all the bay back in 1992.
So i got them down .. all dirty and with surface rust all over the headers.
At first i got down only the right side and started the work on it. Then i figured i can take pictures and maybe show it up here for the future guys who have a horrible exhaust and need to clean it.
It is really not that scary ..
I used this guide http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/aut ... post336527
And now some pictures
The state of the headers can be seen here:
So i got to work....
At first i thought to follow the guide and cleaned the headers, then sprayed them with rust remover ... waited a bit and started cleaning ...
well that was slow! and painful for the hands! and dirty ... and didn't really clean good enough!
Then i decided to test the coca cola hack ... and the results were not satisfactory, given the fact that the header stayed dipped in cola overnight!
Then i got tired of listening to people who are afraid to use sand paper ... so i got a 400grit and got my hands to work. The results were good. After removing the rust with 400 grit, i went one up to 600 so i can prepare for polishing
On the pictures you can see results after 600 grit:
After the 600 followed 800 grid:
And after 800 i went to 1000 grit:
I should say that some of the pictures might be of the wrong grit used, but i did my best to make photos every now and then. You can also see the difference between some point in the process and the initial looks.
After finishing with the 1000 grit, the real fun comes - using the mothers wax. It is the first time i am using it and i am really happy with the results it achieves.
Here are some pictures during the polishing and after it.
All in all there are some scratches left, but i didn't really work on them that hard, so i cam satisfied with the results. If you want more shine - i would suggest going to 1500/2000 grit before the polishing and during the polishing - maybe using some power tools
Next are the pots. They were so rusted away, that i had to weld new insertion brackets on them, so when i have time i will refresh them too. Wait for some pictures