Cleaning Exhaust

[Anthony]

Does anyone have a product which will clean stainless steel exhausts please ?

 

A gentlemen with a very nice bright green SLR at Le Mans advised there is a product which works well and comprises cleaner and a sealer.

 

Does anyone have any ideas please

 

Many thanks

[martinwhitcher]

this has been covered lots, but in general- autosol/peek metal polish on scotch pads (slightly abrashive) with elbow grease. works a treat.

 

Martin

 

MW 51 CAT

[Anthony]

Many thanks for this. I was looking for a more scientific approach and the system suggested ( and visible results ) was what I was after. This is is painted on, washed off and then sealed

 

Where can I find historic coverage of this topic ?

[ashaughnessy]

Use the "search" link at the top of each page.

Anthony (Shaughnessy)

[Nick Chan]

See Allegro's reply on this thread (here)

 

HTH

 

Nick

[Anthony]

Thanks Nick - many thanks

[Big Brother]

It's called POLINOX-P RAPID Hydroflouric + nitric acid. NICE

Commonly known in the welding trade as PICKLING PASTE and can be got from any weld shop.

---

 

I took my car round to Allegro's after hearing his claims for this stuff....

 

Well IT WORKS!!!

 

A light coating of the stuff had the oxidisation literally dripping off of my exhaust. To totally clean the exhaust took 2 applications that were left for around 5-10 mins each...while we stood around and had a beer! (hard work this cleaning exhaustswink.gif).

The end results were amazing! The stainless was so clean that polishing it with a little autosol afterwards was actually a pleasure.eek.gif

 

Also I have noticed that the oxidisation has not yet started to come back (3 Weeks later - driven in all weathers)

 

 

Steve

 

"The original X-Power"

www.Se7en-Up.co.uk

id=green>

 

[Julians Biatch]

A bloke at Tube Torque, Macclesfield recommends a vinegar and water mix. Worked well on my little brothers stainless backbox!

 

Pass me a banana, cos i'm just Ju's spanner monkey!

[jongilthorpe]

I found this posting really helpful.

 

Couldn't find any PolynoxP to treat my rather tatty 4 into 1. I enquired at several welding suppliers for pickling compounds and there prices varied quite a lot (£25-35 + VAT for 2.5kg - the smallest size). Its quite expensive probably because few carriers have a license to shp such a toxic and hazardous product.....probably you can't get it mail order.

 

One UK manufacturer is DB (Starparts, Manchester, M28 2WD. 0161 7938127). You can get pickling paste, gel (probably the best as it is easy to apply by brush and clings to the stainless steel but also easy to wash off), pickling spray and pickling polish (perhaps good for small areas or more regular treatments as there is no need to wash it off).

 

After 2x10 min applications my exhaust was glistening. I removed the syestem as the manifold gaskets had blown and I wanted to clean it before getting new copper ones from Roger King fitted. The discolouration just rinsed off after the first application and most of the stainless was back to its original finish after some metal polish. Only on the primaries is there still some roughness and pitting but the system is 10 years old so I can't expect complete miracles.

 

Beware, the stuff (hydrofluoric and nitric acid) is evil. Please be careful with it. It practically eats anything it comes in to contact with. Wear goggles, skin protection and gloves. You can buy a neutralising spray (also DB, £1 + VAT for 750ml bottle) that you can use to counteract any spills and neutralise the waste. It is well worth it and enviromentally sound to use it (relatively!!!). The spray is concentrated alkali and contains a pH indicator so you know when its job is done.

 

I bought my DB gel from a very nice guy at Richweld - Unit 1, Enterprise Close, Croydon(020 86656522)

 

Jon

[jongilthorpe]

I found this posting really helpful.

 

Couldn't find any PolynoxP to treat my rather tatty 4 into 1. I enquired at several welding suppliers for pickling compounds and there prices varied quite a lot (£25-35 + VAT for 2.5kg - the smallest size). Its quite expensive probably because few carriers have a license to shp such a toxic and hazardous product.....probably you can't get it mail order.

 

One UK manufacturer is DB (Starparts, Manchester, M28 2WD. 0161 7938127). You can get pickling paste, gel (probably the best as it is easy to apply by brush and clings to the stainless steel but also easy to wash off), pickling spray and pickling polish (perhaps good for small areas or more regular treatments as there is no need to wash it off).

 

After 2x10 min applications my exhaust was glistening. I removed the syestem as the manifold gaskets had blown and I wanted to clean it before getting new copper ones from Roger King fitted. The discolouration just rinsed off after the first application and most of the stainless was back to its original finish after some metal polish. Only on the primaries is there still some roughness and pitting but the system is 10 years old so I can't expect complete miracles.

 

Beware, the stuff (hydrofluoric and nitric acid) is evil. Please be careful with it. It practically eats anything it comes in to contact with. Wear goggles, skin protection and gloves. You can buy a neutralising spray (also DB, £1 + VAT for 750ml bottle) that you can use to counteract any spills and neutralise the waste. It is well worth it and enviromentally sound to use it (relatively!!!). The spray is concentrated alkali and contains a pH indicator so you know when its job is done.

 

I bought my DB gel from a very nice guy at Richweld - Unit 1, Enterprise Close, Croydon(020 86656522)

 

Jon

[jongilthorpe]

I found this posting really helpful.

 

Couldn't find any PolynoxP to treat my rather tatty 4 into 1. I enquired at several welding suppliers for pickling compounds and there prices varied quite a lot (£25-35 + VAT for 2.5kg - the smallest size). Its quite expensive probably because few carriers have a license to shp such a toxic and hazardous product.....probably you can't get it mail order.

 

One UK manufacturer is DB (Starparts, Manchester, M28 2WD. 0161 7938127). You can get pickling paste, gel (probably the best as it is easy to apply by brush and clings to the stainless steel but also easy to wash off), pickling spray and pickling polish (perhaps good for small areas or more regular treatments as there is no need to wash it off).

 

After 2x10 min applications my exhaust was glistening. I removed the syestem as the manifold gaskets had blown and I wanted to clean it before getting new copper ones from Roger King fitted. The discolouration just rinsed off after the first application and most of the stainless was back to its original finish after some metal polish. Only on the primaries is there still some roughness and pitting but the system is 10 years old so I can't expect complete miracles.

 

Beware, the stuff (hydrofluoric and nitric acid) is evil. Please be careful with it. It practically eats anything it comes in to contact with. Wear goggles, skin protection and gloves. You can buy a neutralising spray (also DB, £1 + VAT for 750ml bottle) that you can use to counteract any spills and neutralise the waste. It is well worth it and enviromentally sound to use it (relatively!!!). The spray is concentrated alkali and contains a pH indicator so you know when its job is done.

 

I bought my DB gel from a very nice guy at Richweld - Unit 1, Enterprise Close, Croydon(020 86656522)

 

Jon

[jongilthorpe]

I found this posting really helpful.

 

Couldn't find any PolynoxP to treat my rather tatty 4 into 1. I enquired at several welding suppliers for pickling compounds and there prices varied quite a lot (£25-35 + VAT for 2.5kg - the smallest size). Its quite expensive probably because few carriers have a license to shp such a toxic and hazardous product.....probably you can't get it mail order.

 

One UK manufacturer is DB (Starparts, Manchester, M28 2WD. 0161 7938127). You can get pickling paste, gel (probably the best as it is easy to apply by brush and clings to the stainless steel but also easy to wash off), pickling spray and pickling polish (perhaps good for small areas or more regular treatments as there is no need to wash it off).

 

After 2x10 min applications my exhaust was glistening. I removed the syestem as the manifold gaskets had blown and I wanted to clean it before getting new copper ones from Roger King fitted. The discolouration just rinsed off after the first application and most of the stainless was back to its original finish after some metal polish. Only on the primaries is there still some roughness and pitting but the system is 10 years old so I can't expect complete miracles.

 

Beware, the stuff (hydrofluoric and nitric acid) is evil. Please be careful with it. It practically eats anything it comes in to contact with. Wear goggles, skin protection and gloves. You can buy a neutralising spray (also DB, £1 + VAT for 750ml bottle) that you can use to counteract any spills and neutralise the waste. It is well worth it and enviromentally sound to use it (relatively!!!). The spray is concentrated alkali and contains a pH indicator so you know when its job is done.

 

I bought my DB gel from a very nice guy at Richweld - Unit 1, Enterprise Close, Croydon(020 86656522)

 

Jon

[martinwhitcher]

Jon,

i take it you like to speak alot??smile.gif

 

 

 

Martin

 

MW 51 CAT

[jongilthorpe]

Nope!

 

Just thorough ;)

 

Jon

[Anthony]

Thanks guys, I have taken exhaust off and applied pickling paste (60 GBP but enough for a life time ) and generally it works really well. I can see my [ugly] face in the collector and Techcraft

 

The primaries took a lot of extra work - they are 7 years old and I have decided to wrap the pipes following Le Mans trip and the high temps experienced

 

Thanks for everyones help

 

Best regards to all

[ashaughnessy]

Another relatively satisfied pickling paste user. I bought some and used it at the weekend. On the primaries, which had a thick brown coating, it took several applications over several hours and I had to use a wire brush and emery paper. On the rest, where it was just discolouration, it worked very well.

 

It does leave the stainless looking dull. I didn't use it on the silencer but did get some on it and where the paste had been was left dull.

 

It's interesting to read the theory behind it and how stainless steel remains stainless. This indicates that using pickling paste should keep the stainless shiny for longer than otherwise, as it restores the steels protective layer.

 

I used Polinox-P Normal, which I presume works more slowly than Polinox-P Rapid. Got it from Ennell Welding Supplies in Guisely, very helpful people.

 

I also bought some stainless steel polish from a kitchen goods shop, intended for use on your kitchen pots and pans. I used this on the silencer, which was clean but had slight brown discolouration. The polish did a good job, removing the discolouration easily and leaving the metal brighter.

 

Anthony

[JonnyS]

OK some questions for a novice at cleaning SS exhausts etc

 

1. Is there a paricular reason why you can't just use kitchen SS cleaner

2. Presumably it works as well on the wing guards

3. Would you recommend removing the exhaust system / wing guards when cleaning? Seems a lot of hassle. But I suppose there is a danger of ruining the body work if you use the heavy stuff.

 

Jonny