Polishing exhaust

[Charlie]

Looking for some advice tried polishing my exhaust with bluing remover and metal polish but it isn’t exactly what I’d call a mirror shine although is much cleaner, I have heard to get a mirror shine you sand with fine sand paper then buff with the coloured polishing paste, also wondered what Ariel meant by polishing complete system if this is just the rear silencer and how they tackle polishing and if to a mirror shine?

[John Scherrer]

To achieve a mirror finish, ideally you’d need to remove the parts to get decent access and use a machine polisher as it takes a lot of effort to do so by hand.

Complete system means the silencer, catalytic converter and interconnecting pipes - all the stainless parts but not the exhaust manifold. (This is shiny but you don’t get a mirror finish)


Here’s a link showing the non-polished and polished factory options on earlier cars in build. Polished does give a mirror finish.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=18107&p=303236&hilit=Polish#p303236

[Charlie]

Thanks I have a machine polisher but have only done by hand so far but looks as though it would ruin many polishing pads as the cloth got very dirty can you recommend compounds to use with machine or if there are any specially for stainless steel

[PhilM]

You might find this post on the facebook forum useful, it explains what other people have used to get a mirror like finish
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ariel.c ... 674876342/

[John Scherrer]

These are Stupot's pictures of one of his earlier car's to show what can be achieved !

[Charlie]

Does Stupot detail how they achieved the result?

[Charlie]

You might find this post on the facebook forum useful, it explains what other people have used to get a mirror like finish
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ariel.c ... 674876342/

Thanks seems like diamond metal polish is the way to go

[stupot]

The exhaust was professionally polished. Having the rest of the exhaust ceramic coated inside and out also helped keep it that way with minimal maintenance.

[Charlie]

The exhaust was professionally polished. Having the rest of the exhaust ceramic coated inside and out also helped keep it that way with minimal maintenance.

Ok thanks

[Atlarge]

[mention]Charlie[/mention] I went the DIY route on the exhaust polishing and got pretty good results (although not quite mirror) with lots of elbow grease and a polisher........ I didn’t remove the whole silencer though which is what you’ll have to do for a real all round job. I used a combination of scotchbrite type pads (400 - 800 grit) then 1000 grit wet then some 3000 grit and a Maguires metal polishing compound to finish.

The difference on my exhaust was like night and day but it’s not as shiny or perfect looking as Stupots and I cheated and only did the visible surfaces in about 2 hours!

Good luck!

[PhilM]

You might find this post on the facebook forum useful, it explains what other people have used to get a mirror like finish
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ariel.c ... 674876342/

Thanks seems like diamond metal polish is the way to go

Here is a photo of what diamond metal polish achieved on my heavily tarnished kart hubs

received_206997154875292.jpeg (136.95 KiB) Viewed 1303 times

[Fastlane]

Be warned, the non-factory polished exhaust system will polish up nicely, but it will tarnish as soon as you use the car, and after a few trips out, it'll look crap again.

It's a hobby, I suppose...

[Charlie]

Be warned, the non-factory polished exhaust system will polish up nicely, but it will tarnish as soon as you use the car, and after a few trips out, it'll look crap again.

It's a hobby, I suppose...

I think you can use a sealant on it to help I have got some white diamond polish and shine oil the way as I take it is what everyone means when saying just diamond polish.

[Charlie]

I received my white diamond polish and sealer today and can confirm it makes a much better job than autosol i used previously although the cloths never seem to stop getting dirt out not sure if this is an aspect of polishing stainless steel.

[Atlarge]

Good work, looks nice! - how long did it take you?