Hi Am trying to clean off the brown whatever it is covering my headers. I am using engine degreaser and a scotch pad to reveal the shiny finish under the brown stuff...it's hard going though. Anyone know a better method?
I'm pretty sure that is just discoloration from heat. Scoth brite is probably your best option and perhaps a wasted effort since they will probably turn again soon.
Article: Heat tint (temper) colours on stainless steel surfaces heated in air The internet is a great place to search fort answers. Try it some time.
It's just a suggestion. Don't read more into it that what was typed. If it was meant to be sarcastic I would not have posted the link for you to read.
Lotusk, Muriatic acid will instantly remove the oxide from SS headers with no effort. It will also remove rust. Just be careful to prevent it from getting on most anything else as its very caustic to most but not all materials (won't harm plastic or glass). Vapors are caustic as well so, if you choose to try it, use in a well ventilated area.
So, the best method would be use rubber gloves as the they won't melt or get on your skin. Also, use a plastic brush or scotch pad. It will eat through organic materials and will damage metal if it stays in contact. Wipe on, rinse off.
I have some before and after pictures of the heat shields on my header thread, F355 Headers by Stainless Headers. During the header building process I had asked Chris if he could clean up the old shields. It seemed like a shame to put these brown, rusty old shields on brand new custom made headers. I think that he did a nice job. I didn't ask what he used to clean them though. You could always give him a call.
I have used a wire brush on a long shaft, spinning it with a cordless drill. It looked good but as was mentioned above, they will just get brown again. I have heard this 'blueaway' stuff works pretty good: Competition Chemicals, Inc. - BlueAway Image Unavailable, Please Login
A product available at your local hardware store would be "Wink"...often used to get rid of rust stains on porcelain toilets. I'll bet it'll work here too.
Jeez Did u have to show me those amazing headers of yours? Mine look totally awful. Internally they were rebuilt well (i hope) by QV of london, uk....and the heatshields were welded back on....but yours show the seam complete whereas mine have bits nibbled away probably where QV had to rip them open. How many miles have you driven with them on the car and have they turned brown yet?
The headers will be going on shortly when my major is complete. The reason you see the seams was because the primary pipes are slightly bigger than OEM. OEM's are 1.57 and my headers are 1.625. So in order to reuse the factory shields they had to expand them a little. Also, the shields came off of the second set of headers which my new ones were copied from. The shields were not cut on the seam so the guys had to do some custom fabrication.
I am sure the shields will turn a golden brown once they get hot. I don't mind that. I didn't like the areas on the shields that had surface rust on them.
