Header pipe blues

[dbeardslee]

So, last winter I was reading and aritcle on webbikeworld about Britemax polishes. I bought some Britemax Easy Cut, and used it on my valve cover with OK results. I finally got around to trying it on my header pipes, and all I can say is WOW!

I used a red scotchbrite pad to apply it, which gave me kind of a satin finish. NO hard rubbing, and it's almost instant. The directions say to 'rub until the stain dissappears' and that's what I did - twice on each pipe. You let the stuff dry completely and wipe it off. Took about 20 minutes to do all four, and I didn't even break a sweat. You could probably achieve shinier results using just a rag with a little easy cut, but would probably have to rub harder. My pipes were pretty nasty looking. Steel wool wouldn't touch the bluing, nor would the scotchbrite without the easy cut. Anyway, enough talk, you be the judge.

Before:



After:



I couldn't get the lighting quite perfect. What appears to be a little golding of the pipes is actually a reflection off something in the garage - probably my creeper seen in the background. The pipes are satiny all the way up. To really get them done right I need to take the header pipes off and do them so I can hit all the nooks and crannies.

Incredible stuff.

[fredintoon]

New blue

Hi Doug,
single wall 4/1s? The blue will be back soon enough. Post a new photo when it's done so we can see how well the carbs are tuned.

[bikerphil]

gold pipes

Looks much better, dB. I have Mac pipes on my Special, but I made the mistake of polishing them with Mothers chrome polish. Sure, they looked great at first, but soon turned gold afterward. Then I found out it's a no-no to use chrome polish on headers. The Mac's will turn blue anyway because of thin walled tubes. I hope you have better luck with your polish.

[dbeardslee]

Fred and Phil - Yes they are single-wall 4/1's. I have the same reservations, but with the minimal effort required here's what I think. I wash and wax it, knowing it will get dirty again - same difference. I've run it about 20 miles since I did it, just to see what will happen. So far they look the same.

When I first got the bike the pipes were blued real bad. It was also running VERY rich and getting only 12-16 MPG. I have since rejetted and colortuned (a little on the lean side), so I'm hoping I've eliminated the cause of the original bluing - over rich mixture.

I tried cleaning them off with steel wool and scotchbrite pads. The only thing that got me was tired. The easy cut stuff just took the bluing right off. I don't know that this stuff is really a polish - I think it's more like an industrial strength cleaner. Their claim is "Cleans heavy oxidation leaving no residue." Time will tell if it lasts. I've got my fingers crossed. I'll run it for a while and post some more pics with the results.

[dbeardslee]

After 100 miles, the pipes are showing the barest inkling of gold. At this point it's a very light sheen. If they stay clean for 1000 miles, I'll be happy. As easy as this stuff is to work with I would gladly do them once a month just to keep them looking like they do now. I'll update again when I roll over another 100.

[XSPastor]

I would gladly do them once a month just to keep them looking like they do now

If you do, your chrome plating will be gone before long and then you'll have rust... If you hardly have to rub to get rid of the blue, that's pretty abrasive stuff.

[dbeardslee]

Pastor - I hear you brother! I'm not sure how abrasive the Easy Cut is - more of a chemical process. The scotchbrite pad definately provided the abrasive. If I have to do it in the future, I'm pretty sure a rag and some Easy Cut will work. The problem was that the bluing on the pipes was very old and difficult to get off, so I needed something aggressive. As of this a.m. I've got 140 miles on it after cleaning, and they look pretty much the same as when I did 'em.

I'm going out in the shop in a few minutes to colortune and synch just to make sure the mixture adjustments are right. Hopefully with a properly adjusted engine discoloration won't be an issue - hopefully. I've got my eye on the exhaust (and you think it hurts when you touch it with your arm!!!)

[skids]

There are at least two grades of scotchbright. One of them with scratch and dull a "chrome" finish. I know, because I ruined a set of headpipes that way.

[dbeardslee]

Skids - The red scotchbrite is 400 grit, and the grey is 600 grit, so of course I used the red. I like the way it made the finish kind of satiny. My header pipes come out of the collector individually, so I can remove them and get that same uniform finish all over. I'll just leave it shiny from the collector back. I used the Easy Cut on a rag on the rest of the chrome, and it did a really nice job.