I think I f'ed up my chrome, beyond repair?

[No H2O]

I used the finest scotchbrite on my chrome pipes and thought I did it gently enough to only remove the goop and not the finish.
But then when I looked back, the finish was dull in that area
I tried rubbing compound to no avail.
Is there a way to salvage the finish or are my pipes hosed?

 

[HMAN]

Try the old way to fix chrome... coca cola and tinfoil. It may help it may not. Short of a rechrome tho, not much will "fix" it. Well, you could sand the whole thing and shoot em with a high heat paint. Different, but effective.

 

[Jersey Big Mike]

I used the finest scotchbrite on my chrome pipes and thought I did it gently enough to only remove the goop and not the finish.
But then when I looked back, the finish was dull in that area
I tried rubbing compound to no avail.
Is there a way to salvage the finish or are my pipes hosed?

SCOTCHBRITE = NEVER
In the future use 0000 Steel wool (quad aught)

If it's beyond repair you might also look into dulling the whole thing so its even and then using CERAKOTE to recover it. You can get cerakote in a chrome color that looks pretty damn good. Or send them off to Jet-hot and have them properly ceramic coated (in and out) and lower the radiate heat to your legs! (not really cheap)

 

[knothead]

As Jersey Mike stated 0000 wool works great...when i painted cars i would use it on e the windshield and other windows to get the overspray off...

 

[No H2O]

I tried the Coca-Cola with tin foil for a while, it definitely does a great job in removing the scratches, but the dullness is still there, I guess the Scotch Brite removed the finish and there's no way to bring it back

 

[chubs]

Have you tried Mothers mag and metal polish and a lot of hard rubbing?

 

[No H2O]

no I haven't but I'll get some, thank you

 

[Jersey James]

Mr. No H2O. Sounds like you are "hosed", at least as far as your exhaust pipes go. Once the very thin (mills) chrome is ruined, that's it, done deal. All the snake oil in the world won't bring it back. So FYI, next time you get plastic or similar melted on your hot exhaust (I recently did) try this. First try and Carefully remove all the big stuff off the HOT pipes, you will probably get a couple of burns under your thumb nail. Next when the pipes COOL down, take a soft rag ( I wouldn't use microfiber) and spray it with Brake Cleaner. May take some elbow grease, but the final results will be your chrome will look as well as it did before, without the dull looking nickel plate under it. Hope this helps, for next time...

 

[No H2O]

Some guy online is selling V&H "long shots" near me for $350 (which is less than replacing just the heat shields),
since they look the same but longer than my V&H pipes I'll assume I have "short shots" (no baffles).
Once I take the baffles out of his, are the pipes going to sound the same?
(I like the loudness of my pipes and don't want to go any quieter)

 

[Mr. Wright]

Some guy online is selling V&H "long shots" near me for $350 (which is less than replacing just the heat shields),
since they look the same but longer than my V&H pipes I'll assume I have "short shots" (no baffles).
Once I take the baffles out of his, are the pipes going to sound the same?
(I like the loudness of my pipes and don't want to go any quieter)

Log into Facebook

Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

l.facebook.com

 

[Rottweiler]

Some guy online is selling V&H "long shots" near me for $350 (which is less than replacing just the heat shields),
since they look the same but longer than my V&H pipes I'll assume I have "short shots" (no baffles).
Once I take the baffles out of his, are the pipes going to sound the same?
(I like the loudness of my pipes and don't want to go any quieter)

Yes the sound should be close.

 

[HA Y N]

Top Quality Vehicle Appearance Products

Discover Wizards Products for the best in vehicle appearance enhancements. Our high-quality products, crafted from industry experience and customer feedback, ensure exceptional performance.

wizardsproducts.com

 

[liferider]

Aluminum foil and water

 

[No H2O]

I already tried aluminum foil and Coke,
if those shocks had the chrome intact but just were really filthy then the aluminum foil would work but in my case the Chrome finish itself seems to actually be have been sanded down

 

[Jwooky]

The few times I have melted something on my pipes, the only cure was to use a small torch and reheat the material and scrape it off with a plastic razor blade

 

[Jersey Big Mike]

Aluminum foil and water View attachment 118068View attachment 118069View attachment 118070View attachment 118071

You can easily see right down to the copper plating that goes on first to the material -- once you see that there is no recovery, the chrome is not there.

 

[No H2O]

I don't see the copper plating, I'll try the tin foil with water in case the Chrome finish is still salvageable

 

[No H2O]

finally got around to cleaning and wrapping my exhaust with exhaust tape but the tape isn't sticky and there's nothing that forces the tape to stick to the exhaust.
I'm about to spray high temperature silicone sealant all over it to seal out the water but will that be enough to hold the tape in place onto the exhaust?
those metal clips that come with the tape don't really tighten that tight

 

[pknowles]

finally got around to cleaning and wrapping my exhaust with exhaust tape but the tape isn't sticky and there's nothing that forces the tape to stick to the exhaust.
I'm about to spray high temperature silicone sealant all over it to seal out the water but will that be enough to hold the tape in place onto the exhaust?
those metal clips that come with the tape don't really tighten that tight

They make stainless steel ties that do a decent job. Most auto parts stores carry them. As you wrap hold it tight and add another tie. I went about every 6 inches or so.

 

[No H2O]

so you placed a tie every 6 inches?