Serious exhaust tip discoloration problem

S

StriderTacticaL

New member
I bought my Borla Stingers used and the tips were actually in pretty good shape except for a bit of discoloration on the edge's. No big deal. I bought some of this blue magic metal polish long ago and have been using that for a pretty long time with no problems. It seems that suddenly since 2 months ago my left exhaust tip has started to discolor pretty bad and now it's getting worse and worse.



I've tried using this blue magic polish with some fine bronze wool with marginal results. I recently ordered Borla's new exhaust cleaner which is suppose to be some good stuff and even watched and followed their video of a demo done to a Lotus. I also used fine bronze wool like that vid. It turns out this product isn't much better than my over-the-counter BlueMagic one and did little in removing the discoloration. I just tried wetsanding with 3000wet/dry and that also didn't do much except leave a lot of marks.





The discoloration is like bronze/gold in color and is mainly on the outside of my left exhaust tip but it's been like spreading like cancer. I worked both polishes and I removed a good amount of it in the middle for some reason but a large part of it did not come off no matter how much elbow grease I used.





Anyone know whats the best way to approach this? I looked at Borla's exhaust tip catalog and I'm not sure if they have a replacement exactly like this one and the closest one I saw costed like $75 each.









Thanks,

Brandon
 
These are stainless tips? If so, that bronze/gold color is heat tint that occurs somewhere north of 600°F. I'd go with a cloth buff if you can get it in there (Dremel?) using one of your polishes.
 
Satinless comes a few different grades, T409 and T304, 304 being the higher quality of the 2, It stays mirror polished almost chrome looking. Sounds like you might have 409, It turns bronzish with heat, just the nature of the metal, theres not much you can do about it cause its not just the surface thats discolored.
 
FordFan2009 said:
Satinless comes a few different grades, T409 and T304, 304 being the higher quality of the 2, It stays mirror polished almost chrome looking. Sounds like you might have 409, It turns bronzish with heat, just the nature of the metal, theres not much you can do about it cause its not just the surface thats discolored.
Click to expand...



Trust me, 304 will get that color too if you get it hot enough. And it IS just the surface that is discolored; it's an oxide formed thru contact with the air in conjunction with the heat.
 
Thanks for the replies. It is actually 304. The discoloration just seems to be spreading and getting harder to remove. I've actually taken a good amount of it off to my amazement since it really seemed like it was coming from under the surface.
 
I've always had good luck with Nevrdull on my all SS exhaust. It takes a lot of patience... and time to restore a very bad tip with this method, but it's never failed me. Once the wadding gets saturated (you can tell when it's black), rip off a fresh piece. You may have after results with a machine, but my bumper rests too close for me to attempt anything like that.
 
Yeah thats the problem with my exhaust tips too in relative to my bumper. I can use a machine to do the edges but no the upper sides of the tips
 
You guys are about to think I'm crazy, but get yourself some Lime Away (or similar toilet bowl cleaner). Gently brush it on and watch the color disappear before your eyes. Be careful though not to get it on any other surfaces.



I've worked in the motorcycle industry for over 20 years now, and have worked directly with stainless exhaust manufacturers on a lot of different projects. This tip was shared with me by the owner of one of these companies.



My stainless exhausts always looked virtually brand new. If it's a brushed finish, you can follow it up with some Scotchbrite. If polished, follow it up with your favorite polish as the cleaner only attacks the discoloration.



Test a small section on the underneath side first.
 
Well, Lime Away is acid, acid pickling is how scale is removed from stainless steel, lighter acids will remove heat tint...great suggestion!
 
TSC17 said:
You guys are about to think I'm crazy, but get yourself some Lime Away (or similar toilet bowl cleaner). Gently brush it on and watch the color disappear before your eyes. Be careful though not to get it on any other surfaces.



I've worked in the motorcycle industry for over 20 years now, and have worked directly with stainless exhaust manufacturers on a lot of different projects. This tip was shared with me by the owner of one of these companies.



My stainless exhausts always looked virtually brand new. If it's a brushed finish, you can follow it up with some Scotchbrite. If polished, follow it up with your favorite polish as the cleaner only attacks the discoloration.



Test a small section on the underneath side first.
Click to expand...





Great tip Todd!



You learn something new every day! :)
 
Thanks I just tried using it but it didn't work. I rubbed it with some fine bronze wool and it didn't do anything except leave some really strange marks on the discolored parts...kinda like permanent water drops....some of the discoloration also started to look like there are micro bubbles in it
 
Can anyone else shed some light over this? I've tried like 5 products so far and it hasn't helped..



Weird because I've managed to take a good portion of it off but the ones that remain are so stubborn





Thanks
 
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