Honda Accord Optimized by KC and seech

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iforcev8

New member
If I can, what should I use? I got a quote from a metal polisher and he said it would cost 70 bucks to do 2 exhaust pips on my truck. But for now my lame attempts to get that mirror finish that are on my tips to go on my pipes have failed. So, I figure why not just ask the Pros at Autopia.

Thanks in advance
 
vinegar...olive oil...club soda....NeverDull..i never tried any of these things on tailpipes but they worked on my stainless steel sink....for streaks and stains...are they really nice...but just not nice enough or what?
 
Hello iforceV8! Welcome to the forum.



I believe Spawn Sniper uses Klasse AIO to polish his Borla (?) exhaust. If you already use their products, then go ahead and try it on. It works really well on stainless steel kitchen appliances.



As far as polishing, I remembered an old article on the old Autopia-Carcare site. It mentioned something about Luster Lace or Pad, and sandpaper. I dont kno what happened to that...



Good luck!
 
I tried NeVR DULL on the Borla pipes, but had no luck on it, I tried Mothers Metal Polish and still no luck. I was thinking I needed some fine abbrasive pad and buffer to really get a mirror shine, but I have no idea on what to get.



Thanks for the welcome,lots of good information in here. I guess there is a forum for everything. I belong to a flashlight enthusiats forum! I followed Spawn Sniper in here, we belong to a Tundra forum, and I actually recommended the Borla to him, but it doesnt look like he has the mirror finish on the pipes, although his tips look good.
 
Mostly professionals post on that forum, people that trust their lives to their equipment, Seal Team, SWAT, Police officers, Search and Rescue teams and firefigters. www.Candlepowerforums.com
For the guys who think Maglites are the brightest out there, prepared to be amazed. These guys have flashlights that put out 6 million candle power, and cost up to 1600 bucks
 
just checked out that website...candlepower....now i know what people who come here for the firsttime feel like...i was lost....double magnums(recognized it once i saw the posted pic)...knives...guns....i felt like i was having an early thanksgiving as most of my family is in the NYPD or retired military...:D
 
I dont think other sites Abbreviate as much as you guys do..with the SMR, and MF Towels, I had such a hard time figuring out what those were.
 
The tips you want to polish are they unpolished stainless - is this an exhaust system that was made up for you by a pipe bender or an already made after market system. My experience was - I had a custom made system made up for me from unpolished straight pipe. I wanted it to shine so what worked for me was emery cloth - best description is very fine sandpaper that is cloth backed for flexibility and black in colour. Believe it comes in only one grade. Take that paper,cut it into one inch strips and the length of the paper and rap it around the pipe and polish it like you are polishing a pair of shoes, if you know what I mean - back and forth around the pipe holding one end of the paper with one hand - the other end with the other hand - concentrated in one area. It will not take too long before you will see the start of a shine so go till it is to a mirror finish. If the pipe has never been polished - this will do it. After that you can use cleaner and/or repolish with the emery cloth to maintain it. Works for me. MTS
 
Stainlkess is far harder than aluminum, which is why the metal polishes (Luster Lace, Mothers, etc) won't increase the shine.



Emery paper isn't a bad choice - the trick is to make such fine scratches they can't be seen - that's what true polishing is all about.



Products like NevrDull won't work since they're basically mineral spirits on wadding - great for wiping away dirt, but they don't truly polish.



If you could find a way to put emery paper on a high speed device (drill, Dremel, etc) you'd get the best finish. Maybe start with 1500 wet, then 2500 wet, then emery. Wet it to keep from bluing the metal from heat.
 
Forrest - I did not want to get into the details of it all but what I did was I bought emery cloth for a belt sander so it is already ready for oval rotation - cut in the strips like I descripted - took a regular hand drill and I had a bit that with barrel like rubber end, like on a Dremel for sliding on their round sand paper accessories, slid the belt paper, which I turned inside out so the abrasive was now on the inside, over the pipe - stuck the drill with the rubber bit into the sandpaper loop and started the drill on a slow speed to start. It took some practise keeping the drill so the paper stayed on, rotated the paper around the pipe in a 360 degrees circle so all the pipe got polished - till it did produce a shine ( in this case the pipes were off the vehicle). This same thing could probably be done if you just wanted to do the tips of the exhaust since there might be the space - where you miss - do it by hand. When I did this it was almost like it was meant to be - it worked so well - should have prefected it and patented it cause i love MAKING THINGS SHINE. MTS
 
You may want to try baking soda, vinegar, and salt and make a paste out of it. I heard this really gets stainless steel shining.
 
Do you want it to shine or do you want to polish it to a mirror like finish? Sinks (DeLorean car too) have a satin buffed appearance due to the fine micro scratches while a your dinner knife will have been polished smooth and mirror like.



For mirror finish you will have to start rough and then get to extremly fine. Sand with 1000, 1500, 2000 grit and then move on to emory paper which does come in varying grits as well. After you may want to move to polishing waxes using a polishing wheel mounted on a drill. If you use a polishing wax make sure it is one for SS since they have several different types made for different materials. Try a machine shop supply store like MSC.



There are many ways to do it but all involve either power tool or tons of elbow grease.



BTW some exhaust systems have a coating on them to prohibit rust. And yes, there are stainless steels that rust. Most of the times these SS are coated with an aluminum or zinc to help prevent rust. You can tell by looking where the pipe was cut and look for rust after a few wet days.



Geeky huh, but I had experience with this in my former line of work. We would polish shafts where bearings would ride to prolong life & decrease friction. We asked for a certain surface finish on the shafts. Oh heck I am stopping right here before my head explodes!
 
The tips have been polished by the manufactuer of the exhaust which is Borla, I wanted the pipes to shine like the tips do( highy reflective, like Chrome ), I will give the emery cloth a try. Is there a grit # that you would compare emery cloth to?
 
Here's another one I did with my buddy KC.

Was invited by my detailing buddy KC to assist with a detail on a black Honda Accord..... hmm.... he must think I'm some kind of black Accord expert of something.

By the time I arrived, KC had already washed and clayed the Accord with Optimum No Rinse (ONR).
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The owner has been really careful about washing and waxing his car but unfortunately was not equipped with the right products and this was the result...
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After many, many, many hours of compounding with Meguiar's M105, polishing and finishing with Optimum Polish II and Optimum Finish, and sealing with Opti-Seal and Optimum Car Wax, we managed to get it to this condition.
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Needless to say the owner bought some ONR and some quality microfiber towels to care for his car after seeing the results of our efforts.

The sun had already gone down when we finally got done.

Thanks again to KC for inviting me along.
 
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