Shot blasting SS exhaust

[Tony C]

Just had one of the guys at work weld a 3" extension on the exhaust exit pipe so one of Ammo's beautiful silencers will line up nicely with the seatbelt bolt at the attachment bracket and he had shot blasted the extension because it was such a ratty looking piece of pipe. Upon gentle enquiry he assured me he could shot blast the headers and the other collectors too (Don't worry Ammo, not the silencer).

 

The exhaust came in a raw tube state complete with printed pipe specification and all the bend/draw marks. I was wondering how best to clean it up and intended to have a go with some Scotchbrite. I thought the shot blasted finish would be easier to polish, but I'm now wondering if I could leave it shot blasted - the finish is a light matt grey and quite smooth. It's not that far off the finish on the titanium silencer.

 

Anyone else done this?

 

I don't particularly want a shiny finish, just smooth and easy to keep clean 😬

 

BRG Brooklands SV 😬 It seems that perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to take away. (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

[JampJ]

I think shot blasting will make it very hard to clean in the future( unless you re shot blast it) Welders pickling paste will remove all the serious crud. Nasty stuff to use though! Keeping on top of the cleaning is the answer, once it's been properly polished.

Cheers J&J

 

JFDI

(Just F*****g Do It)

[TopQ1967]

SS shot blasting is done with glass or corund. You will get a rough surface, that holds derbis. If you polish it the mud cannot stick on you exhaust, this makes cleaning fast & simple.

 

Regards,

 

Quirin

 

 

[Paul Formston]

Hi Tony my headers don't get very bad but if they do get tarnished I give them a rub with wet & dri with oil, and then scotchbrite and then metal polish that brings them up like crome Regards Paul

[Tony C]

I don't know the type of shot/sand/bead, it's what they use to clean the cylinder cooling fins on the aero engines (Lycoming). The finish is VERY smooth but matt. It certainly gives it an atractive/utilitarian look.

 

When he finishes the primaries I'll make an assesment - he's only done the 2-1 collector so far. He's a bit of a craftsman - he wants to re-do the 2-1 collector because it was all covered with finger marks.

 

As I mentioned it's nearly the same finish as the titanium on Ammo's silencer.

 

I'll see if I can give it a shine on an unexposed when fitted portion - to see how easy it will be

 

BRG Brooklands SV 😬 It seems that perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to take away. (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

[Tony C]

So nobody has experience with keeping a sand blasted exhaust clean

 

BRG Brooklands SV 😬 It seems that perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to take away. (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

[Sheds Moderator]

In the worst case scenario if it looks scabby after a while you can go Paul Formston's route and polish it with W&D and oil then scotchbrite. Go for it.

[Tony C]

Naaahhh - with all the primaries sand blasted to a nice even matt finish they merely look as though they've been sprayed with light grey manifold paint.

 

That and the welding were well worth £50 though - thank you Steve 😬

 

2 1/4 hours with a long strip of Scotchbrite has them now with a nice smooth brushed finish, not going to bother to polish them to a mirror finish

 

BRG Brooklands SV 😬 It seems that perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to take away. (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

[caterhamnut]

Tony, I sand blasted mine (pretty fine sand) to get rid of the old brown colour - pretty effective, and I then polished it a little by hand with some metal polish - far easier to do after the sand blasting got rid of the main stains etc.

Of course, it has now gone back to mucky looking again - I am pleased to report my days as a polisher did not last long!!

 

www.mycaterham.com

here

Videos

here

98,000 miles -1st 1.6k Supersport, '95 Motor Show car

[Tony C]

I recognised that the limitation was going to be the collectors, so I did those first and then did the pipes to match - just finished (4.75 hrs) - and all with one long piece of Scotchbrite; matches the Raceco silencer finish too - what luck

 

BRG Brooklands SV 😬 It seems that perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to take away. (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)