Cleaning Stainless...

[Racinfan83]

Speaking of cleaning up your Z - I was given a stainless Borla exhaust by Paul Workman. Another example of "The Brotherhood" in action. I am SO appreciative!
Anyway - I figured I would clean it up a bit before installing. Hadn't really had to clean stainless before - but I think it turned out pretty good...

Mufflers before -



Mufflers after using a fine wire wheel and mineral spirits on a Scotchbrite pad:



Pipes were a bit heat tarnished - so I used Bar Keepers Friend and a Scotchbrite pad in the kitchen sink (don't tell the wife lol)...
Actually she came home and caught me so I had to super clean the sink..



After:



Looks pretty good I think!

[We Gone]

looks good,

[Schrade]

Looks good.
(ya' gotta' put in the extra clean BEFORE she shows up, and then when she asks why it's so clean, you say it's because you cleaned some parts in the sink. Then she'll say, "You need to clean parts in the sink more often". One of my ex'es actually said that)

I can't believe PW gave you DIRTY stuff tho'.

Although I COULD stoop to accept a dirty plenum there Paul, if you're holding...

THat is pretty cool tho'

[randy ransome]

Great job, and I know how hard it is to clean stainless steel. It took me about three hours to sand and polish my plenum bolts. That stuff is tough as nails.

[scottfab]

Lots of work. Good job.
There's nothing "stainless" about stainless steel.
They should have called it "rustless steel" or
"not brown steel".

I'll be looking at the corsa tubes soon. Got a tiny leak
somewhere that I can hear. I'll do some "shining" of
the mufflers as well.

[cadillac531]

Looks good to me! Nice job, cleaning that is hard work.

[Meanmyz]

Awesome job.

Here's a helpful hint that has worked for me. Go to Napa and get some aluminum brightener. This is an acid and you will want to use it in a ventilated area and use rubber gloves.

Also, to apply it, you will want to use it in a spray bottle (the aluminum brightener comes in a gallon jug or a smaller spray bottle).

I recommend the fine mist spray bottles like old empty Meguiars "spray detailer" bottles. MARK THE BOTTLE so you don't spray it on your paint, which will probably be harmless anyway (but you want to know what you have put in the spray bottle).

Also buy the gray scotchbright pads. They are fine enough that they won't scratch aluminum surfaces.

You will be amazed at how quickly stainless cleans right up using aluminum brighter...seconds to make it look new with scrubbing with the gray scotchbrite.

Anyway, you will want to rinse off your completed job with water.

This also works in cleaning the undercarriage aluminum parts of our cars...makes them look like new. Again ventilation, rubber gloves, and rinse with water.

Lastly, one more helpful hint when working on the undercarriage...those aluminum coated bolts and fasteners...spray them with the brightener and after a few second of letting the treatment work, rinse. If you let the acid on too long, these coated bolts will streak their coating onto the surrounding surface.

The aluminum brightener works superbly on grime and grease, when nothing else will. And again will make the extruded aluminum parts and castings look just like when they came off the Bowling Green line. Obviously, don't use this stuff on polished aluminum.

[Racinfan83]

Good tip! Never heard of that stuff before. Also didn't know there were different colors/grits of Scotchbrite pads. The Home Depot only had one kind so thats what I got. These are like a maroon color..

[Paul Workman]

Fleetwood (Addison, IL) 630-543-0190 carries a white rouge "stick" used to load up a buffer pad that is specifically intended for SS for "show quality" polishing...FYI.

[Meanmyz]

Originally Posted by Racinfan83

Good tip! Never heard of that stuff before. Also didn't know there were different colors/grits of Scotchbrite pads. The Home Depot only had one kind so thats what I got. These are like a maroon color..

The gray Scotchbrite, which I also got at Napa, I THINK many times is used for light removal of "nibs", contaminates, etc., after you after applied lacquer finishes to wood...prepares it for that final smooth finish.

On stainless, I don't think it really matters. Stainless is some tough stuff. But, when you are cleaning your undercarriage, you don't want scratch marks on the aluminum showing every direction that you scrubbed.