g35_coupe
New member
- Jul 9, 2010
- 413
- 0
Here's one of the loose ends I tackled after detailing my wife's Pilot this weekend (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/91298-2011-honda-pilot-test-subject.html) The exhaust tips were an eyesore and it's a pet peeve of mine to see chrome/steel ones un-polished. Plus they look delicious if done right.
Recipe:
#0000 steel wool
Acid Cleaner-12 (industrial stuff)
Maroon Scotch-brite pad
1500 grit wet/dry
Mother's Mag/Aluminum Polish
Rags
3" 3M Wool pad
Bench grinder wire wheel
Years of typical exhaust soot/carbon, dirt, mud, etc., but no rust/dents, surprisingly. I thought about doing them on the car but knew it wouldn't be as thorough with the rolled lip. They came off in seconds with a 10mm socket so I made a bring-your-exhaust-tips-to-work day. Here's one of our culprits....

After 2 rounds of steel wool, I was left with this build up. UNACCEPTABLE!

Brought out the Scotchbrite and AC-12 and it came out super easy with a lot less elbow grease.

Ready for some quick wet-sanding....


Ready for some polishing....

Not too shabby...

Bolts need a little wire wheel action...

Ready for re-assembly....


Final comparison...
(Not delicious)

(Delicious!)

Pretty good for about an hour's worth of work. I could have rolled the wetsanding back to 1000 or 800 to get them looking like some alien spaceship metal but the scratches left behind are virtually unnoticeable, so it wasn't worth the effort.
Recipe:
#0000 steel wool
Acid Cleaner-12 (industrial stuff)
Maroon Scotch-brite pad
1500 grit wet/dry
Mother's Mag/Aluminum Polish
Rags
3" 3M Wool pad
Bench grinder wire wheel
Years of typical exhaust soot/carbon, dirt, mud, etc., but no rust/dents, surprisingly. I thought about doing them on the car but knew it wouldn't be as thorough with the rolled lip. They came off in seconds with a 10mm socket so I made a bring-your-exhaust-tips-to-work day. Here's one of our culprits....

After 2 rounds of steel wool, I was left with this build up. UNACCEPTABLE!

Brought out the Scotchbrite and AC-12 and it came out super easy with a lot less elbow grease.

Ready for some quick wet-sanding....


Ready for some polishing....

Not too shabby...

Bolts need a little wire wheel action...

Ready for re-assembly....


Final comparison...
(Not delicious)

(Delicious!)

Pretty good for about an hour's worth of work. I could have rolled the wetsanding back to 1000 or 800 to get them looking like some alien spaceship metal but the scratches left behind are virtually unnoticeable, so it wasn't worth the effort.