Since I get so many PM's and questions about this, I figured I would make a thread to help anyone who wants to try this on their own or just see how it's done.
Items needed for this job:
1) Wet Sand Paper of varoius grits. 100, 220, 320, 400, 600, 1000, 1500, 2000
2) 150 Grit Flapper Wheel (Optional)
3) Drill
4) Spray Bottle of Water (Add 1 drop of dish washing liquid to full bottle. ie. Dawn)
5) Cotton Buffing Wheel (Mothers Power Ball will not work nearly as well)
6) Mothers Mag Aluminum Polish
7) Towels to wipe off the polish with
8) And last but not least, a strong arm and shoulder muscles (You'll need it! LOL.....)
The exhaust I am doing is a Borla system, but as long as it is stainless steel it should come out the same. (Aluminized pipes, such as MAC and Flowmaster or some Bassani's, will NOT come out like this but you can clean it up a little by sanding it.)
Here are the pipes as they come from Borla. (These are a from new Stinger System)
Here you can see the dull "Brushed" finish that most cat backs come with. You can see the marks from the mandrel bender as well.
To help get out some of the marks from the mandrel tubing bender I chose to use a "150 Grit Flapper Wheel" attachment for my drill. This is optional but it may save some of your arm strength for the sanding to come.
This kit came with 2 wheels. I used the 150 grit wheel.
Attached to drill.
After sanding with the wheel you will come up with something like this.
I started out with 100 grit sand paper by hand. I used some heavy duty rubber gloves I bought at Home Depot to help save my fingers. (Use gloves if you want to keep your finger tips!)
This is what it will come out like after the 100.
The paper broke down with the 100 so I went right to the 320 grit then 400. Here's what the pipe will look like after 400. (Ignore the bend that used for testing which was already about done.)
Next to the stock pipe with the 400.
Next up was the 600 grit. You can see it starting to shine just a little bit.
Next to the stock pipe with the 600.
From there I moved on to 1000 grit. Here's what you should end up with.
Next to the stock pipe with the 1000.
Next up was the 1500 grit.
Next to the stock pipe with the 1500 grit.
And finally the 2000 grit. It almost looks polished at this point.
Next to the stock pipe with the 2000 grit.
For the final step I used a cotton buffing wheel on my drill along with some Mothers Mag Aluminum Polish. This is where the "Magic" really happens!
Here are the results of all your hard work! :rockon:
Polished pipe VS Stock.
And here's what they will look like on the car! You can see the reflection of the ground and now you can blind people from behind you at night. LOL...
Hope this helps.
Kevin
Items needed for this job:
1) Wet Sand Paper of varoius grits. 100, 220, 320, 400, 600, 1000, 1500, 2000
2) 150 Grit Flapper Wheel (Optional)
3) Drill
4) Spray Bottle of Water (Add 1 drop of dish washing liquid to full bottle. ie. Dawn)
5) Cotton Buffing Wheel (Mothers Power Ball will not work nearly as well)
6) Mothers Mag Aluminum Polish
7) Towels to wipe off the polish with
8) And last but not least, a strong arm and shoulder muscles (You'll need it! LOL.....)
The exhaust I am doing is a Borla system, but as long as it is stainless steel it should come out the same. (Aluminized pipes, such as MAC and Flowmaster or some Bassani's, will NOT come out like this but you can clean it up a little by sanding it.)
Here are the pipes as they come from Borla. (These are a from new Stinger System)
Here you can see the dull "Brushed" finish that most cat backs come with. You can see the marks from the mandrel bender as well.
To help get out some of the marks from the mandrel tubing bender I chose to use a "150 Grit Flapper Wheel" attachment for my drill. This is optional but it may save some of your arm strength for the sanding to come.
This kit came with 2 wheels. I used the 150 grit wheel.
Attached to drill.
After sanding with the wheel you will come up with something like this.
I started out with 100 grit sand paper by hand. I used some heavy duty rubber gloves I bought at Home Depot to help save my fingers. (Use gloves if you want to keep your finger tips!)
This is what it will come out like after the 100.
The paper broke down with the 100 so I went right to the 320 grit then 400. Here's what the pipe will look like after 400. (Ignore the bend that used for testing which was already about done.)
Next to the stock pipe with the 400.
Next up was the 600 grit. You can see it starting to shine just a little bit.
Next to the stock pipe with the 600.
From there I moved on to 1000 grit. Here's what you should end up with.
Next to the stock pipe with the 1000.
Next up was the 1500 grit.
Next to the stock pipe with the 1500 grit.
And finally the 2000 grit. It almost looks polished at this point.
Next to the stock pipe with the 2000 grit.
For the final step I used a cotton buffing wheel on my drill along with some Mothers Mag Aluminum Polish. This is where the "Magic" really happens!
Here are the results of all your hard work! :rockon:
Polished pipe VS Stock.
And here's what they will look like on the car! You can see the reflection of the ground and now you can blind people from behind you at night. LOL...
Hope this helps.
Kevin
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