| Author | Message | ||
     Obiewan |
I know there is a thread here somewhere on cleaning / shining headers, but any good tips on shining the headers on a XB12R Firebolt, since those threads were posted. Anyone tried something different? I've tried Emery Cloth, past, Mothers, etc.. Any info from you guys would be great. Send pics also if you have them......... Ody\  | ||
| Xtremelow |
WD-40 and some scotch bright  | ||
| Xenox |
Obie , already seen this one http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/327 77/545677.html?1268179675 ? A couple good write ups, including one I did, no shortcuts but worth it... Some pics in my profile... (Message edited by XenoX on September 02, 2010) | ||
| Obiewan |
Thanks, BTW, sweet bike man! Same year as mine. Love those tail lights!!! | ||
| Johnboy777 |
I tried WD-40 and ScotchBrite, S100 Polishing soap and Mother's Original MAG AND ALUMINUM POLISH. Hands down it's Mother's. My headers stay polished-looking longer and its just easier to apply.  | ||
| Obiewan |
Damn this shrinking the photos is a pain in the ass. I reinstalled windows and don't have Gimp at the moment until I reinstall it. To re-size, here is a link for an online re-sizer for those who need it in a hurry http://www.shrinkpictures.com Works great! Any way, I polished a portion of my headers (top part, right out of the heads, nothing else) and rode the bike for around 200 miles, here is the results. gold looking headers, but was Silver. Looks kinda good though.   | ||
| Xenox |
Thanks! Yours cleaned up great Obie! | ||
| Nickh |
  Nick | ||
| Obiewan |
Now I have to do the rest of it.. I did it with sand paper progressively getting finer as I went, then to finish it off I used polishing compound.. Took forever to do that small area. I'll try the Mothers and Scotch-Brite and see how that does. | ||
| Bads1 |
If you wants a scratchless mirror finish then sand away boy's. Last Laugh has never seen a scotchbrite pad,steel wool,or sandpaper. Nothing but either Eagle aluminum polish or for the last couple years.... Flitz. Applied with papertowel and buffed off with a soft cloth. | ||
| Xenox |
Best just to try to clean the original finish. You can cut long strips of old towel and wrap around the pipe 1 full turn so you pull on alternating sides of the strip to help cleaning.Any polish should work for this, best results might be had from one of these : flitz,mothers, eagle, master gloss metal polish ..I've seen some excellent results, like last laugh, and lil blackie........ My header was originally wrapped and there was extreme discoloration/tarnish on my header,I ended up ruining my original textured finish, because I wasn't patient, or maybe it wasn't happening.So I had to go all the way, by sanding/polishing. For those who do sand, especially on the 04 style finish, only sand lengthwise, only, wet,only. From 160-220 thru 2000 never skipping any grades, and ensuring previous grade sand marks are gone before proceeding to the next grade. Up to 800 scotch brite in between grades. Starts popping at 2000 without polish! Polish seals the deal.Best left as a winter project.Character building/add on experience .For the benefit of others just joining us, good DIYs in this thread :http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/32777/545677.html?1268179675 Is it a pain to do? Maybe. YES. Takes approx 10 hours. After I finished, the labor I put into it was quickly forgotten because of the results , absolutely zero regrets, very happy . The best part unlike chrome, stainless can alway be polished back to a mirror finish. Here is a close up, not to brag but some pipes look great from a few feet away this looks fantastic way up close:   | ||
| Obiewan |
Nice writeup, thanks for the info. Those pipes look VERY GOOD. You have Bragging rights with those beauties.  | ||
| Firebolt_man09 |
My question is how long do they stay the chrome color?? How are they after a few months of ridding? They do look sweet as Hell good job buddy!! | ||
| Xenox |
Thanks guys! I have a custom map that probably lets the mixture burn a little cooler. The pipes still look great with the most minimal of maintenance, just a wipe with a clean dry t-shirt. Some very minor gold tinting has crept in after 4k miles, still a mirror shine though. I found the gold tint can wipe right off , almost literally with some metal master polish, I like the gold tint though..I have found that this is another benefit to getting the shine on the header is the ease of cosmetic maintenance. Some low res fubared pics of the gold tint in my profile. | ||
| Ourdee |
I liked the way Bill Cosby said "Pieeeepes" on the album "200 MPH". | ||
| Ar15ed |
simichrome polish works pretty good, too. ed |
