slight rust build-up on exhaust tips

[FC in TO]

Hi all,

as the title suggested, i am experiencing some minor rust build-ups on my exhuast tips.

the tips are stainless steel but snow+salt+humid/damp parkign area might have something to do with it.

the rust are little spots on the 'rims' of the the tips. i think there are fairly new since they are rather tiny and can be easily toweled off.

but i just want to know if there anything i can do to take care, stop or to prevent it from worsening?

thnx guys

[Dinzdale40]

I got some stains and stuff off of mine with Mothers Mag& Alum. polish, and I clean the tips with Windex almost every time I go out.....seems to clean them off pretty good...but some stains I have to go back to the Mothers.......

[Bill D]

I polish with Mothers too, I also put afew coats of Klasse SG on my tips. I reapply the SG fairly often as I assume the intense heat does burn it off.

[FC in TO]

thnx guys for the speedy replies.

but there's anyway to stop it from happening?

i guess the best i could do is to clean/polish it often before it gets unmanageable?

[Bill D]

Yeah, I would say you'll probably have to polish and seal fairly regularly

[jchetty]

yeah, i recently polished my muffler ( the visisble part) and tip. after you polish, you only need to wipe, it makes keeping it cleaner much easier........and Bill D, i tried the cleaning my undercarriage but couldn't do it...i did do my tip and muffler and wheelwells though

[Bill D]

He he, LOTS of contorting is necessary if you don't have a lift to do the entire undercarriage I'm looking for a good brush with telescoping handle to make cleaning a bit easier

[jchetty]

Originally posted by Bill D
He he, LOTS of contorting is necessary if you don't have a lift to do the entire undercarriage I'm looking for a good brush with telescoping handle to make cleaning a bit easier

ur method for polishing worked out perfectly. i have a lot ppl asking me when i got the new exhaust i tried to do my undercarriage, had the legs sticking out and everything lol couldnt go through with it. i redid my motor instead

[Jesstzn]

The staining on the SS tips is due to the alloy of the SS .. prolly 304 or the likes. Never-Dull or Mothers Billet polish will clean it.

The tips in this pix only get the outsides washed , they are 316L SS and the exhaust carbon etc will not adhere to it.

SS tips

[FC in TO]

cool.

thnx for the reply guys...

i just hope the rust doesn't slowly eat away the metal eh... (probably not)

and nice to know about the SS alloy difference... i never pay any attention to that.

[Arved]

Many people are surprised to find out that "Stainless Steel" (SS) rusts. The problem is that the alloy still has Iron (Fe) atoms on the surface, and these atoms will oxidize, producing rust.

A long time ago, I was helping a family friend repaint thier sailboat in a yard. I picked up some tips. One of these was that if you "pickled" the SS in Naval Jelly, the Phosphoric acid in the Naval Jelly will etch the Fe irons from the surface, leaving only the Nickle and Chromium atoms on the surface.

The one major problem with this is with high strength fasteners (which your muffler isn't, but I'll add for completeness). The exposure to acid causes hydrogen to permeate the metal, making it brittle (Hydrogen Embrittlement). In order to avoid this, you must bake the SS for 8 hours @ 375 +/- 25 degrees Fahrenheit, and you have to start this within a few hours of the pickling operation. Not necessary for cosmetic or low strength peices, but if you're going to do this to SS bolts, it's a concern.

I like to follow up the etch with a wax, but I'm not aware of anything that will resist the heat of an exhaust system.

All the best,
- Arved

[Bill D]

I was hoping this set of metal polishes, particularly the 2 strongest ones, would help make my exhaust pipe ( uncarriage portion) look better

http://www.heavymetalpolish.com