Cleaning Exhaust Tips?

[JesterheadGTS]

I'm just curious, my exhaust tip looking a dull and dirty these days, so i wanna clean it but I don't want to mess up the nice polish/shine underneath. So my question is what can I do to shine it back up? I would post a picture, but it's kinda crappy rainy out at the moment.

[johnygezony]

use an old microfiber and some instant detailing solution. I usually just hit it with my wheel brush. If its coated with carbon then some wheel acid should loosen it up.

[Reelax]

i use this for touch up:

http://ak.buy.com/PI/0/350/229487577.jpg
Eagle One Original Never-Dull Wadding Polish

and this for times when it really has thick carbon buildup:

http://www.mothers.com/02_products/product/images/05141.jpg
Mothers Powerball Mini

with this:

http://www.mothers.com/02_products/product/images/05112.jpg
California Gold Metal Polish

keep in mind, the only part of my exhaust tips that i need to polish are the "faces" as the sides are raw:

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff8/ooreelaxoo/underback1.jpg

[Skyforger]

i use this:

http://ak.buy.com/PI/0/350/229487577.jpg
Eagle One Original Never-Dull Wadding Polish

and this:

http://www.mothers.com/02_products/product/images/05141.jpg
Mothers Powerball Mini

with this:

http://www.mothers.com/02_products/product/images/05112.jpg
California Gold Metal Polish

Beat me to it. Highly second this right here.

[8thLS6]

I just use https://store.mothers.com/contents/image.php?sizex=300&sizey=350&image[0]=images/products/05101_2012.jpg&

Apply and rub on with one side off a towel, and buff off with a clean side. Repeat until the applied area no longer leaves black residue on the towel.

Works for me..I had a friend thinking I replaced my muffler with a newer one

[8thLS6]

Hey reelax are those the aero turbine mufflers you have?

[Reelax]

Hey reelax are those the aero turbine mufflers you have?

yes they are. i love them. they are full stainless 2.5" in/out straight through w/ high flow air foil inside and no packing to burn. they sound very low and throaty... i highly recommend them.

http://www.verociousmotorsports.com/core/media/media.nl?id=2328&c=606473&h=633063c93d3ead75151f
http://shopping.netsuite.com/core/media/media.nl?id=2356&c=606473&h=4083f513d42eee441618
http://shopping.netsuite.com/core/media/media.nl?id=2321&c=606473&h=b50713486cd797c84de4

the main reason i got them was they do not have any packing inside and you can see straight through them but they still decrease and lower the exhaust note w/ absolutely no loss in flow! i used to run a downpipe/testpipe (all cats deleted) setup w/ custom straight through cat back piping that allowed alot of fuel to go through the exhaust (you could actually smell gasoline in a car following my car on the street) and i burnt out my THERMAL R&D straight through race muffler that was on the car when it was single exhaust. i also added in an AERO TURBINE resonator (2.5" in/out) to the new custom piping since i had originally deleted the original resonator. with the straight through piping and cats delete, the car was LOUD... now with the new setup, it is much more subdued but still obviously not quiet; i got over having a loud car and getting pulled over all the time, plus w/ the components i used to rebuild the system, the exhaust is much more fitting to the style of the car.

[JesterheadGTS]

thanks guys! i'll definitely try one of those ideas, maybe tomorrow if it's nice out

[JesterheadGTS]

so i took 8thLS6's advise on the MOTHERS MAG & ALUMINUM POLISH as I figured this would be the cheapest route (less then $4 for the small jar at Walmart).

BEFORE:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v98/Sandman71486/20120528_153022.jpg

AFTER:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v98/Sandman71486/20120528_154128.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v98/Sandman71486/20120528_154219.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v98/Sandman71486/20120528_154232.jpg

It's not perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better then before. And only took not even 5 minutes to get it to that

[Skyforger]

Damn nice for just hand buffing.

[JesterheadGTS]

Thanks. There were a couple of carbon spots i couldn't get off, but overall i'm still satisfied.

[DOHCstunr]

I just use any old cheap chrome polish and an old sock. you can wrap the sock around once and just pull back and forth. Kind of like how you use a bow to start a camp fire.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Bow_Drill.png/300px-Bow_Drill.png
So essentially its very low effort and it takes the carbon right off.
The last thing I'm going to do is spend an hour trying to make my tip shiny. I'd rather spend that wiping down the car.

Once the shine is restored and the is carbon removed...
I carry a old microfiber and detail spray for keeping the tip clean between washes. once or twice a week I just hit it with the detail spray and its good as new.