How to polish/clean titanium?

M

M34u2NV

New member
Hey guys, I have a quick question(and yes i did do a brief search)



I recently bought a titanium muffler, and would like to know if there is any product or technique I should use to polish it. . .as i did purchase this second hand and am going to want to give it a good going over before mounting.



Here is a pic:

162411.jpg


notice the blue tips. . . i would like to keep them that way, so please let me know how to go about this



thanks in advance! :)
 
I would think anything you put on would burn off. My guess is your best bet would be to always keep them clean dont let anything build up.
 
I'd use NXT metal polish. It's not very abrasive but is a good cleaner. So it won't damage the existing look. Plus it leaves behind a layer that protects. Even though the tips get hot, there has not been much carbon buildup after 6 months.
 
I polished the Titanium Pipes on my bike when they turned brownish/gray... Its a 2004 R1 with Akropovic Ti/CF cans...I have found that Maas metal polish works well as long as you throw a coat of wax on them after. I am sure my exhaust sees higher temps than a car exhaust as it is only 2-2.5 feet from the motor so if this works for mine I am sure it would hold up pretty well for you.
 
Keep in mind that titanium doesn't polish up to a high shine, it is by nature a dull metal. It really looks pretty good in the picture, except for some of the welds that haven't been cleaned. Those will take a bit more than a polishing to make them look like the pipes, they will need to be ground/sanded. I wouldn't worry too much about taking the blue off the end of the tips, it will likely come back from use--that's how it got there in the first place.
 
I actually have that NXT "Polysh" so i'll give that a whirl and see!



Setec Astronomy - i def understand it's not gonna be really shiny, i just want to clean it up is all



thanks for that advice guys!
 
I drive a Z06 Corvette with TT catback. My understanding is once the tips change color (from high temps) they stay that way and you'd have to grind off a layer of metal to turn them back to the original color. The tips on the vette are clean and in good shape, haven't turned colors low milage vette). I clean with "NEVR-DULL" when I wash the car. The TT tips aren't as bright as chrome, but have a nice patina to them. CLASSY.........Tom
 
Setec Astronomy said:
Keep in mind that titanium doesn't polish up to a high shine, it is by nature a dull metal....
Click to expand...
Don’t tell that to the guy that buffed this Titanium stem to a high gloss.



gooseneck.jpg






PC.
 
the other pc said:
Don’t tell that to the guy that buffed this Titanium stem to a high gloss.
Click to expand...



OK...now you're taking what I said and acting like it's what I meant :o ...I guess what I meant is that the color of titanium is different than aluminum, chrome, or stainless steel (which are similar, the SS being a little darker). The color is dull, which means...it just looks different, darker...less clean...I dunno.
 
Yeah, even in the high polish it does seem a little darker than other shiny metals.



It's unusual to see polished Ti anyway. It's a pain to work with so it's usually left in rough cast, forged or tooled (machined or extruded) finish. Plus, it's mostly used for hard-core technical reasons where appearance is irrelevant.



In this case the builder found that, besides looking nicer, polishing out the welds improved fatigue performance.





PC.
 
Just as a heads up that on most exhaust with Ti tips, the blue color is from heat treating at the factory (via torch I believe). I don't think the exhaust temps get hot enough to change the Ti to that rich of a blue on their own. For example, an aftermarket manufacturer recently came out with Ti Radiator plates for the G35's and they offer them in various "treatments". Depending on how they heat it will determine the effects on the color.
 
thats what i thought, with respect to the tips and the color. . .just wanted to be sure that i wouldnt accidentally use a wrong product to change that, cuz i like the tips



thanks for all the help guys, really appreciate it!
 
Diesel1 said:
Just as a heads up that on most exhaust with Ti tips, the blue color is from heat treating at the factory (via torch I believe). I don't think the exhaust temps get hot enough to change the Ti to that rich of a blue on their own.
Click to expand...



Yeah, you're likely right about that...the color looked familiar to me...but that's probably from me seeing it in the heat-affected zone around welds.
 
the other pc said:
It's unusual to see polished Ti anyway. It's a pain to work with so it's usually left in rough cast, forged or tooled (machined or extruded) finish. Plus, it's mostly used for hard-core technical reasons where appearance is irrelevant.
Click to expand...

Diesel1 said:
In this link you can see the different treatments of Ti on the radiator covers



http://www.unlimitedtuning.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=87



I am pretty sure they just hit the areas they want witha torch to get the "design" or pattern they want. Not positive, but I think that's how they do it
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I dunno, to me that random discoloration just looks sloppy. When I use something for hardcore technical reasons, I like it to have a uniform (finished) appearance.
 
I've mostly seen the blue tint in heat affected zones around welds as well.



I don't find the colorations on the radiator plate attractive either. I also agree they were probably done with a torch for decorative effect. It appears to be flat sheet, without any bends that might need to be heat formed or stress relieved.



The coolest looking chunk-o-titanium around here is on display at the California Science Center in LA. The surface of this Lockheed A-12 Blackbird is almost entirely bare Ti.

A12front.jpg




(We have an SR-71 out at the March Field Museum too but it's painted black.)





PC.
 
Hmm...if that's an A-12 it's the trainer, and therefore mightn't have the composite RAM in the chine area, so would be almost entirely bare Ti...the early "blackbirds" weren't black, until they put the blackball paint on them. The only one we have around here is on the Intrepid museum, and it's black.
 
Yup, it's an A-12 and yes, it's the one trainer (tail# 60-6927).



landis-927-bw.jpg






Here's a shot of the Man, Kelly Johnson (one of my personal heros), in the cockpit of 927.



pr-1575.jpg






PC.
 
It's been a while since I read his book, I didn't remember he got a check-out in the A-12 trainer. They don't make guys like Kelly any more or airplanes like the A-12 (not that they ever did *cough*). I missed seeing the M-12 when I was in Seattle (museum at Boeing Field)...the A-12 on the Intrepid was pretty rough when I saw it. If we get into SR-71/A-12/M-12/YF-12 discussions we'll lose most of the membership so we'll leave it at that....plus we are way off topic anyhow.
 
M34u2NV said:
Hey guys, I have a quick question(and yes i did do a brief search)



I recently bought a titanium muffler, and would like to know if there is any product or technique I should use to polish it. . .as i did purchase this second hand and am going to want to give it a good going over before mounting.



Here is a pic:

162411.jpg


notice the blue tips. . . i would like to keep them that way, so please let me know how to go about this



thanks in advance! :)
Click to expand...





They HAVE to look brownish and blue... That IS WHY we buy titanium mufflers and parts... My Remus Catback is a titanium kit (the same one used on the Nismo Skyline R34' s) and it looks half dull, blue at the tip and brownish grey elsewhere. It also goes deeper blue as far as it goes hotter...



Just use some multi purpose cleaner and lightly brush them with your OXO which you decided to discard. Never use any abrassives as the Remus dealer told me never to do so...



Good luck.
 
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