head pipe blueing

[donebysunday]

Is there an easy way to remove head pipe blue/discoloration ?

[trbig]

The most effective way is... tuning? lol. Or at least to where it doesn't come back. Do you have stock exhaust or an aftermarket? Aftermarket pipes have a single wall and are next to impossible to keep from bluing, but if it's happening to stock pipes which are double walled, they're getting WAY too hot for some reason. Blue is usually a rich mixture, yellow is usually lean.

Now.. back to the actual question. Many products take the blue off. My personal fav is Simichrome.. others use Blue-away.. Many products can be found at your local bike shop. All I've tried take a considerable amount of elbow grease and patience. BUT.. all these products are taking away a tiny bit of chrome each time, so your best bet for the long run is to tune it correctly as soon as you can after polishing.

[donebysunday]

much work

To much work for semichome tried that on my 79, or even any other manual labor stuff. I suppose the tarnish remover for silver ( Tarn X ? )won't work ?
So it's take the exhaust off and clean best I can and have it re-chromed or ceramic coated or stove paint it, the cheapest ? Tuning is the next step before the trans fix, in between I need to plan the exhaust fix.

Thanks trbig !!!!!

Done };~)

The most effective way is... tuning? lol. Or at least to where it doesn't come back. Do you have stock exhaust or an aftermarket? Aftermarket pipes have a single wall and are next to impossible to keep from bluing, but if it's happening to stock pipes which are double walled, they're getting WAY too hot for some reason. Blue is usually a rich mixture, yellow is usually lean.

Now.. back to the actual question. Many products take the blue off. My personal fav is Simichrome.. others use Blue-away.. Many products can be found at your local bike shop. All I've tried take a considerable amount of elbow grease and patience. BUT.. all these products are taking away a tiny bit of chrome each time, so your best bet for the long run is to tune it correctly as soon as you can after polishing.

[skids]

The most effective way is... tuning? (snip) Blue is usually a rich mixture, yellow is usually lean.

Can you explain this? I am having a tough time wrapping my head around that.

[trbig]

Usually, if the pipes are mainly a blue color, it means the motor is running too rich and part of the gasses are burning in the pipe. But... running lean is even worse and creates even more heat, usually showing up as a gold or yellow color on the pipes.

Tuned well, all the combustion happens in the cylinder and the chrome on the pipes doesn't get hot enough to turn colors.

Now... don't argue or I'll drag you down to my level!

[xs650man]

An old school hot rod trick was to wrap heavy copper wire around the pipe a few times, where it comes out of the head. I think the idea was the copper acted like a heat sink to draw the heat away.

[jjz28]

Have you guys heard of the aluminum foil and coke idea. It works on rust and shines it back up. Try it. I have seen it on you tube clean up rusted pipes till they shined again. Lots of elbow grease and time though. I hit one of my shock for about 10 seconds and was amazed but I don't think I have the patience to do it long as I have bad nerves.

[jetmechmarty]

Have you guys heard of the aluminum foil and coke idea. It works on rust and shines it back up. Try it. I have seen it on you tube clean up rusted pipes till they shined again. Lots of elbow grease and time though. I hit one of my shock for about 10 seconds and was amazed but I don't think I have the patience to do it long as I have bad nerves.

You don't need the Coke. Water will do the job. If you insist, a little bit of phosphoric acid from the hardware store is less messy than corn syrupy Coke. Put a little bit of acid in the water.

[tarzan]

Usually, if the pipes are mainly a blue color, it means the motor is running too rich and part of the gasses are burning in the pipe. But... running lean is even worse and creates even more heat, usually showing up as a gold or yellow color on the pipes.

Tuned well, all the combustion happens in the cylinder and the chrome on the pipes doesn't get hot enough to turn colors.

Now... don't argue or I'll drag you down to my level!

Are you sure that isn't backwards?
I believe blueing is hotter than gold/yellow. At least, that is how it is when you cut metal. When machining, you want a gold/straw colored chip.Blue means too hot. I'm pretty sure that's how it works, no matter how you heat it up.

[jjz28]

You don't need the Coke. Water will do the job. If you insist, a little bit of phosphoric acid from the hardware store is less messy than corn syrupy Coke. Put a little bit of acid in the water.

When I did it, I just used dry aluminum foil but I heard it was better with the coke than just dry. I bet that acid would work great. It really did surprise me how it cleaned the rust off. I guess it would take the bluing off too.

[dondons1984]

I used aluminum foil and rubbing alcohol once and it worked pretty good.

[natemoen]

Aluminum foil and wb40 is what I have used, not to remove bluing but for ruse removal on chrome.

[jetmechmarty]

When I did it, I just used dry aluminum foil but I heard it was better with the coke than just dry. I bet that acid would work great. It really did surprise me how it cleaned the rust off. I guess it would take the bluing off too.

It works better lubed. I have an old beater with chrome bumpers in my garage. I use the foil on the front bumper every time I wash it. I just dip the foil ball into my bucket of soapy water.

[CaptonZap]

For those of you wondering why the process works, you can look up the Mohs hardness of chrome and aluminum oxides. (that's what is on the surface of the pipes and foil), and then imagine what is going on when you scrub one with the other.
On a set of old pipes, what's the harm?
CZ

[fredintoon]

Usually, if the pipes are mainly a blue color, it means the motor is running too rich and part of the gasses are burning in the pipe. But... running lean is even worse and creates even more heat, usually showing up as a gold or yellow color on the pipes.
Tuned well, all the combustion happens in the cylinder and the chrome on the pipes doesn't get hot enough to turn colors.
Now... don't argue or I'll drag you down to my level!

Hi TR,
but I'd have to be dragged UP to get to your level.
However, that ain't how it works.
If you were as old as me you'd have been showed REAL stuff in shop class.
Like how to harden and temper high carbon steel.
It's all in the oxide colors. They run from the hottest, black, nearest the red hot area cooling through mauve, blue, dark straw and light straw, the coolest.
A Britbike is in perfect tune when it's single wall exhaust pipe is mauve as it leaves the head, blue to the first bend and fades from light straw to no oxidation half way down the first leg.
If a double wall exhaust shows more than a hint of straw just at the head the bike is running way too hot or the inner pipe is perforated.
As an aside, my son bought a set of pipes from MikesXS, single wall but a far thicker wall than the usual 20 gage.
Those pipes went brown. An even mid brown all the way down to the mufflers.