guywithfz10
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Registered: Sept 1, 2016 17:49:46 GMT -7
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Post by guywithfz10 on May 5, 2017 16:40:53 GMT -7
I've been caught out in the rain far too many times while riding and my exhaust pipes are getting fair amount of gunk onto them now. Seems like a good number of people have titanium exhausts/midpipe so I was wondering what everyone was using to keep it clean. I tried wiping it down with WD-40 but it doesn't seem to get the dirt and grime off the pipes. Haven't tried metal polish products yet but I don't want to strip the titanium of the blue discoloration. Anyone have experience in cleaning titanium?
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Post by tigershark on May 5, 2017 17:11:54 GMT -7
Others buying them for the -10 generally picked up used R1 headers off ebay. Being pretty grungy as received, most got spiffed up with brillo/sos pads and water. Results were impressive. Even though they're titanium, they still discolor from heat. Some ended up being coated with ceramic and really came out nice. Ceramic does not discolor from heat, is relatively inexpensive (max $200 for -10 headers, including sandblast prep) and stays exactly the same forever. Plus, you would still have half the weight of titanium over stainless or chrome steel. You could even get titanium colored ceramic that would not discolor.
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latte
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Registered: Jan 19, 2017 2:06:59 GMT -7
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Post by latte on May 5, 2017 19:00:27 GMT -7
I've heard wetsanding or scotch pad works wonders. Acid bath will temporarily rid the discoloration. I'm actually a fan of the rainbow effect on Ti  |
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guywithfz10
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Posts: 218
Likes: 160
Registered: Sept 1, 2016 17:49:46 GMT -7
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Post by guywithfz10 on May 5, 2017 19:21:11 GMT -7
I've heard wetsanding or scotch pad works wonders. Acid bath will temporarily rid the discoloration. I'm actually a fan of the rainbow effect on Ti I want to keep the discoloration on the titanium as well. I had heard of people using polishing products and resulting in the blue/purple color being stripped off. I would like to avoid that. |
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latte
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Registered: Jan 19, 2017 2:06:59 GMT -7
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Post by latte on May 6, 2017 16:00:08 GMT -7
I've heard wetsanding or scotch pad works wonders. Acid bath will temporarily rid the discoloration. I'm actually a fan of the rainbow effect on Ti I want to keep the discoloration on the titanium as well. I had heard of people using polishing products and resulting in the blue/purple color being stripped off. I would like to avoid that. Don't worry about the color being stripped off, once Ti heats up again it comes right back. |
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Post by slv on May 6, 2017 17:50:08 GMT -7
I want to keep the discoloration on the titanium as well. I had heard of people using polishing products and resulting in the blue/purple color being stripped off. I would like to avoid that. Don't worry about the color being stripped off, once Ti heats up again it comes right back. This is true. The trick to titanium is making sure it's clean before heating it. Alcohol works, but I use Prep-All. Any oil or grease, even from a fingerprint will etch the surface of titanium once it reaches about 450 degrees. The etched areas will be visible until its scuffed away with Brillo or steel wool. |
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latte
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Posts: 198
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Registered: Jan 19, 2017 2:06:59 GMT -7
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Post by latte on May 6, 2017 18:03:24 GMT -7
Yep! I wiped mine down with wd40 as everything was still pretty clean. Wear gloves, install, and do a final wipe down before you let it loose into the sunset so your headers bake into some unicorn pipes.
Side note on steel wool, gotta be careful because it can leave small steel particles imbedded in whatever you're finishing and leave little rust spots. Happened to me.
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