Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Exhaust Polished Header Pipes

Good job! I did it on a cold day as well. Fortunately the pipes got pretty warm and easy to hold on to. Made the mistake of buffing some parts last winter inside the garage - big mistake! I had cloth debris all over, took weeks to get it all blown outside. That wheel makes a huge difference and yields results you will never get by hand

What's this white rouge stuff? I'm new to the whole polishing thing...

I'm FAR from even a rank amateur, but you use different grade abrasives to polish metal, similar to sanding wood. Most of the products are called "rouge". White is the final stage (I believe!). Someone posted this link:
Polishing Introduction
Eastwood also has a lot of materials:
Eastwood Polishing Materials

I bought the rouge/compund from the local Sears/craftsman, was under $2.00 for a 1x1x6" bar. Lots of light applications to the cloth wheel, then lightly back and forth, and forth, and forth.... Used less than 1/2 the bar of rouge, then into the warm(er) basement to hand polish a bit more. They really look great. $12.00 cash investment and 2 hours time. Good project for a snowy weekend. Cheers, Mike

Thanks for the info guys. I don't have a bench grinder, or a bench for that matter, so I'm thinking of buying a buffing wheel to put on my power drill, make sense? Also, do you think removing the headers is necesary? Or can I do them in place?
Thanks

I tried the wheel on the power drill, but it doesn't generate enough speed. (at least with my standard Craftsman drill) I also put the cloth wheel on my air grinder with the same results. I don't know what size motor my neighbors bench wheel is, but it is very powerful.

Post deleted by Grump

Well I have a couple good smudges from my speedo cable and one on the other side from my cover that I melted on, so really I'm more interested in a uniform finish with less blue than I am a super duper polish, ya know? I have some ideas for a small bench for my garage, and a bench grinder is only like 40 bucks, so it sounds like it might be a worthy investment. Get a cloth wheel and a wire brush wheel for some other stuff. PRobly be very handy to have.....

Benny, just a quick note-my bench grinder is actually base mounted, so it's easy to move around (outside the garage when buffing, 'cause it can be quite a mess). Also it's a 1 hp 8" Craftsman, did the job well, but did slow the motor down pretty good a couple times without "excessive" pressure. Not a tool to go extreme budget on, especially if you're looking at some other uses as well. With the 8" wheel I was really able to manipulate the pipes around without worry of interference with the grinder motor itself. I would think a 5" or 6" wheel may not be as easy. So there you have it........... Mike

I would guess a small grinder/wheel with the right abrasive would take care of those problems.

I rec'd an Eastwood catalog over the weekend. They had some nice wheels, but they were in the $400 range, which would be out of my budget. I better stay on the good side of my neighbor! He's a great guy to live beside, hot-rod builder with welding stuff, etc. (body-man by trade) His wheel is on a easily movable stand, like to my driveway! The process does make quite a mess in the garage.

Hey Mike, I tihnk the 8" wheels are still reasonably priced... I'll look into it. Thanks

Hey Al, I do have a dremel, so I think I'll look into getting rid of the local spots that way and polish/even it out with a large wheel.

If they are mildly discolored, that approach will probably work.

Yeah Al they aren't that bad, got the AI out a long time ago... My left one is a little worse than my right, as with a lot of people. I'll look for some blue job and get to it:)