# polishing exhaust tips.



## THE SAINT

whats the best way to polish the exhaust .I use a light cutting pad with some metal polish which removes most things off.i have some stubborn marks on it still, what else can I use ?


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## joe_echo

Wire wool in #0000 and some metal polish will work on most stains.


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## Welshquattro1

joe_echo said:


> Wire wool in #0000 and some metal polish will work on most stains.


+1 wire wool.


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## Rabidracoon28

+2 wire wool with Surfex HD. Then AF Mercury to polish up afterwards.


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## Dazzel81

+3 wire wool with britemax metal twins.


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## THE SAINT

wheres the best place to get the wire wool from?


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## ravg99

Ebay for me. By the foot or metre


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## Dazzel81

THE SAINT said:


> wheres the best place to get the wire wool from?


Get mine from i4detailing :thumb:


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## clap

Screwfix do wire wool


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## Rabidracoon28

http://www.screwfix.com/p/oakey-steel-wool-fine-200g/96385


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## jamie_s

I got some from homebase because I was too impatient to wait for delivery. Did a pretty good job coupled with autosol on my z4m tips


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## WannaBd

Good job jamie s. It's that 2 tubes of autosol u used? How much elbow grease?!


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## Rabidracoon28

Great pair of tips there;-)


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## jamie_s

WannaBd said:


> Good job jamie s. It's that 2 tubes of autosol u used? How much elbow grease?!


no no where near that lol, had 2 open tubes in the garage so started with the one with the least in it, which turned out to be 1 pea sized blob! Didn't take too much work and I only used the wire wool on the insides as I daren't use it on the outside :lol:



Rabidracoon28 said:


> Great pair of tips there;-)


:lol: ps theres actually 4 :car:


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## Rabidracoon28

jamie_s said:


> :lol: ps theres actually 4 :car:


Actually there's 2 in your picture as only one side was photographed hence a pair. I know that car has two pairs but you only showed one pair.


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## jamie_s

Rabidr8 said:


> Actually there's 2 in your picture as only one side was photographed hence a pair. I know that car has two pairs but you only showed one pair.


:lol: touche monsieur


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## THE SAINT

looks very smart mate!


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## jamie_s

THE SAINT said:


> looks very smart mate!


Why thank you. What metal polish have you been using? Also I don't know if ther is any benefit to using a machine for exhausts I thing doing it by hand is best when there are stubborn marks. They seem to come off easier rubbing them with one finger concentrating the pressure with either stockinette rag or fine wire wool with autosol.


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## Chino

Autosol is good, I've tried Meguiars NXT metal polish of recent on the bumpers/hubcaps/brite-work on my Type 3, which works a treat as well. Obviously no wire wool on my chrome tho!


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## ArielGL

Scothrbrite


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## Leebo310

Dazzel81 said:


> +3 wire wool with britemax metal twins.


This is the combo I'm going to use on mine. Have heard good things so I'm hoping for good results!


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## Blueberry

Leebo310 said:


> This is the combo I'm going to use on mine. Have heard good things so I'm hoping for good results!


It's the bees knees this combo.


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## jamie_s

Always here good things about them, although I haven't had a car that really deserves them until now. I've only tried autosol and the tcut one when my mate bought some and that wasn't as good as autosol. Thats as far as my experience has gone. Tbh never felt the need for anything more but judging by their reputation on here I might have to make a purchase.


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## 3dom

From this 








to this








From this








to this








From this to this (excuse the collage)









The BMW (top) was using Car-Chem metal polish with two MF cloths (one on and one off)

The CLK (middle) was Car-Chem again this time with ultra fine wire wool followed by two MFs again

The GTR was Car-Chem with two MF cloths, one on and one off.

I love the Car-Chem stuff as it has real bite but polishes up brilliantly so no need for two products according to my repeated use on a whole variety of vehicles, stains etc. The price is great and as it's thick, like Meguiar's, it's really easy to apply and choose how much you want to use as opposed to wasting lots of products which obviously gives you another clear up job and costs money too.

Good luck :thumb:


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## Wingnuts

do you all use any type of solvent before like an apc or degreaser something like that? if so what dilutions have you used?

thank you


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## 3dom

On the cars above I didn't bother. The Car-Chem stuff has a solvent in it as far as I can tell, so it seems to cut through muck quite easily. If it was a mild steel system on an old classic (for example) I would use an APC rather than metal polish but I'm sure other people will have their own ideas.


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## jamie_s

Neither did I, although sometimes I find the most stubborn crap is tar so if your tips have a lot of tar stuck on then a tar remover would speed things up.


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## Wingnuts

so some oooo wire wool and some decent metal polish like britemax or auto finesse will do the trick

the duel exhaust on my coupe siii needs doing bad


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## WannaBd

jamie_s said:


> no no where near that lol, had 2 open tubes in the garage so started with the one with the least in it, which turned out to be 1 pea sized blob! Didn't take too much work and I only used the wire wool on the insides as I daren't use it on the outside :lol:
> 
> :lol: ps theres actually 4 :car:


I've been asked to clean the inside of the pipes on a range rover and old rolls Royce cornice, I've never done any exhaust polishing before so I'll try your method. Nice car btw:thumb:


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## WannaBd

3dom said:


> On the cars above I didn't bother. The Car-Chem stuff has a solvent in it as far as I can tell, so it seems to cut through muck quite easily. If it was a mild steel system on an old classic (for example) I would use an APC rather than metal polish but I'm sure other people will have their own ideas.


Hi great pics there. I've got to do the tips n insides of a 70s rolls royce (would that be a classic?), the insides have probably never been cleaned, so would Polish be okay? As I tried g101 @ 5-1 n it made no difference.


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## ColinEhm1

will be taking on these tips also as need to do mine to finish off the detail ive done on mine before gets traded in and just recived #000 grade wire wool from cyc today and af mecurary the other week so will give it a go


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## 3dom

Does the exhaust trim look chrome plated (as many of the vintage will be). If so go very, very careful with wire wool as this can easily scratch chrome and you'll have one hell of a job to get the marks out (without dedicated mops and soaps/compounds). You could always share some photos, but my gut instinct would be something like a wheel cleaner for the inside and if you feel the need to agitate it, use something like a stiff bristled brush. If the owner tells you it's a stainless system, use whatever you need to. The MB trim was stainless and that took some hardcore polishing to get that respectable


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## Wingnuts

what about something AF Citrus power?


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## WannaBd

3dom said:


> Does the exhaust trim look chrome plated (as many of the vintage will be). If so go very, very careful with wire wool as this can easily scratch chrome and you'll have one hell of a job to get the marks out (without dedicated mops and soaps/compounds). You could always share some photos, but my gut instinct would be something like a wheel cleaner for the inside and if you feel the need to agitate it, use something like a stiff bristled brush. If the owner tells you it's a stainless system, use whatever you need to. The MB trim was stainless and that took some hardcore polishing to get that respectable


I'd only use the wire wool on inside, I'll ask him but doubt he'll no. He told me his Bentley had been swiss wax oiled then wanted me to use autoglym on it. They're pipes not tips sorry. So


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## G105ALY

Cilit Bang with a scouring pad works a treat


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## jamie_s

WannaBd said:


> I've been asked to clean the inside of the pipes on a range rover and old rolls Royce cornice, I've never done any exhaust polishing before so I'll try your method. Nice car btw:thumb:


it's suprisingly easy and you'll find that 5 mins will give you 90% results. As said I've only done a few and only used the wire wool on the inside although I think many use it on the outside but I just daren't :lol:



WannaBd said:


> Hi great pics there. I've got to do the tips n insides of a 70s rolls royce (would that be a classic?), the insides have probably never been cleaned, so would Polish be okay? As I tried g101 @ 5-1 n it made no difference.


 Autosol on a cloth or other metal polish should be fine, but if it's chrome take the advice of the people who have already commented but I'd imagine it would be fine used with a cloth, just hold off on the wire wool!


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## Steve_Dub

Amazon sell wire wool as well.


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## shine247

Wingnuts said:


> what about something AF Citrus power?


I used it neat on mine before cleaning with wire wool and t cut metal polish. 
It is very good at breaking down and removing soot inside and any dirt on the outer surface. You don't have all that black soot messing the job up then.


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## rossman999

I have no problems cleaning the 4 stainless tips on my car using autosol and a dremmell, but its frustrating that 2 days later they are just as dirty and the same process is required :-(

Anything I can use to coat the tips to make it easier rather than having to start from scratch each time?


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## Chino

I've started applying wheel sealant/high temp sealant to mine in a bid to see how that works.


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## Jamie!

This thread needs before/after pictures so we can see what can be achieved with what grades of wire wool. Cheers


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## Pugnut

Britemax Metal Twins - I did a review here ....

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=333096&highlight=britemax

Quick Before & After:


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## Superlander

I bought my Wire Wool from a seller on eBay, searched for it and found out that the top seller is actually located some 45 seconds down the road. Winner! It has brought my Astra VXR exhaust up quite well with Metal Twins, will get some before and afters up when I get home.


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## SteveyG

Britemax does nothing on my BMW exhaust  Spent an hour with fine wire wool yesterday and it's not even remotely shiny.


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## steve from wath

here you go

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=308072


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