Thread: How to polish and restore aluminum exhaust. (Magnaflow)

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  1. #1 How to polish and restore aluminum exhaust. (Magnaflow) 
    SE Level Member Jbruce308's Avatar
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    Ill make this a quick guide and for the most part its all pretty easy to do with some spare time on your hands.

    Total cost supply cost: $30.00


    Materials:
    - Any Aluminum, steel or metal parts
    - Mothers Mag and Aluminum polish
    - Microfiber rags
    - Buffer (if you have one, or just use a makeshift one haha like myn)
    - 120, 220, 400, 800 grit wet/dry sand paper
    - Soapy water/ Rag

    Alright so first just make sure you have your supply's as seen below. Its all pretty cheap for the most part.



    Next, take whatever muffler,piping, or metal piece you are polishing and wipe down with soapy water and a rag then dry off. In this case im using a friends magnaflows that i bought which look like crap.
    Few Pictures:









    Now start with a low grit paper to rough it all up. I used 120 then moved up to 220 to 400 then finally to 800. You may go higher for a cleaner finish but im lazy and this part wont really be seen so im fine with 800.




    Yay, now that your finished with the boring sanding you may take your Mothers polish or whatever else your using for metal and get to rubbing it in. No need to destroy your arms if you dont have a buffer so just rub it in lightly. Black residue will come off, but this is a good sign its working even on the shinier parts. Simply just rub in then wipe off as if you were buffing anything else.
    Make sure you have a microfiber cloth...it helps more then you think to pick up the excess gunk without smearing.




    Getting there..... about 3 coats in.



    After like 4 coats i was tired of using my arm and i dont have a buffer so hears my alternative which actually worked well haha. (Not required)
    Cheap Buffer= DA sander+ Microfiber cloth





    Once your happy with how it looks stop and give it one clean wipe down and your set. Here's how myn turned out and this is my first time polishing metal but not to bad. At least it will look decent when i install it soon.





    Yellow tint from my yellow painted walls in garage below.
    Not Perfect but im happy with the glossy loock now.
    To rid sanding lines go higher grit and spend more time



    BEFORE POLISH AND AFTER POLISH


    Last edited by Jbruce308; 04-27-2012 at 11:48 AM.
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  2. #2 Re: How to polish and restore aluminum exhaust. (Magnaflow) 
    GTP Level Member dmahlikGT's Avatar
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    Not bad at all.Looks good. I use mothers mag to shine my tips every other week lol.
    04 GTP-3.6 pulley, custom tuned, Intake, headers,thrush exhaust, al104 plugs, 180* stat, shift kit, flipped mounts

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  3. #3 Re: How to polish and restore aluminum exhaust. (Magnaflow) 
    SE Level Member Jbruce308's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dmahlikGT View Post
    Not bad at all.Looks good. I use mothers mag to shine my tips every other week lol.
    Yeah no clue how long they will stay shiny but while there off figured id makem look a bit nicer.
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  4. #4 Re: How to polish and restore aluminum exhaust. (Magnaflow) 
    GrandPrix Junkie SeanGTP's Avatar
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    Good stuff. Yeah, if you go all the way up to 2000, maybe a bit overkill, but that's about as smooth as they get. Sander always speeds things up a bit too. I have a buffer but not a sander. :P
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  5. #5 Re: How to polish and restore aluminum exhaust. (Magnaflow) 
    Turbo is the way to go. BillBoost37's Avatar
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    They'll look good until a couple of weeks after you put them on. Polishing exhaust is the most futile thing in the world.
    I drink..so consider that when reading my posts.

    2010 Audi A6 Dual IC's
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  6. #6 Re: How to polish and restore aluminum exhaust. (Magnaflow) 
    SE Level Member Jbruce308's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SeanGTP View Post
    Good stuff. Yeah, if you go all the way up to 2000, maybe a bit overkill, but that's about as smooth as they get. Sander always speeds things up a bit too. I have a buffer but not a sander. :P
    Thanks Man. Yeha it took me long enough as is so i wasnt trying to spend like over 6 hours of this project haha.
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  7. #7 Re: How to polish and restore aluminum exhaust. (Magnaflow) 
    GXP Level Member 02 WS6 TA's Avatar
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    Except those are stainless, not aluminum.
    I may say rude things but learn to take a joke. The internet is funny when you can laugh.
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  8. #8 Re: How to polish and restore aluminum exhaust. (Magnaflow) 
    SE Level Member Jbruce308's Avatar
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    K yeah i dunno they both look similar when polished and i really cant tell. I just figured they were aluminum since the guy who i got em from always goes the more inexpensive route. But yeah your right.
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  9. #9 Re: How to polish and restore aluminum exhaust. (Magnaflow) 
    GTX Level Member bps02gtp's Avatar
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    think i can get that shine outta 04 plus pig snouts? got some for free i wanna throw on my 02
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  10. #10 Re: How to polish and restore aluminum exhaust. (Magnaflow) 
    GXP Level Member 02 WS6 TA's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jbruce308 View Post
    K yeah i dunno they both look similar when polished and i really cant tell. I just figured they were aluminum since the guy who i got em from always goes the more inexpensive route. But yeah your right.
    It's ok, you're better off. Magnaflow mufflers are damn near indestructible.
    I may say rude things but learn to take a joke. The internet is funny when you can laugh.
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  11. #11 Re: How to polish and restore aluminum exhaust. (Magnaflow) 
    SE Level Member Jbruce308's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bps02gtp View Post
    think i can get that shine outta 04 plus pig snouts? got some for free i wanna throw on my 02
    Yeah im sure you could. If your only looking to do the tips just sand them down and youll be good to go. May take a few coats of polish but im sure they'll definitely shine up. But seriously dont be to lazy on the sanding. If you have time work your way up to at least 1500
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  12. #12 Re: How to polish and restore aluminum exhaust. (Magnaflow) 
    I AM PEWPIN! rynoman03's Avatar
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    You can also use Eagle One Wadding Polish. I've got most of mine cleaned up. I gotta sand some spots still or use a scuff pad. I've also read that you can use steel wool.
    1999 GTPHP Tuned, Ported SC/TB, 42#'s, SSAC's, ZZP Modded 1.9's/LS6 Springs/Manley's, TransGo Shift Kit, Poly Uppers, KYB GR2's/Springtech's. - 231k and traded it in. - Gone
    2000 GTP: XP, P&P'd Heads, N*\Lq4 MAF, GenV, 42#'s, PRJ Rails\FPR, Racetronix, TEP w/ 3.29 Gears, 300m, 7/8" chain, SSAC's. - Collecting dust in my garage.
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  13. #13 Re: How to polish and restore aluminum exhaust. (Magnaflow) 
    SE Level Member Konvinced89's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BillBoost37 View Post
    They'll look good until a couple of weeks after you put them on. Polishing exhaust is the most futile thing in the world.
    Haha I can't argue, experience would slap the taste outta my mouth. But I know the feeling of a job well done, even if it's something most people won't notice. I followed a similar process(sandpaper, super-fine steelwool, polish) to do my fuel rails a few weeks ago, and it makes me smile every time I pop the hood.

    @Jbruce: I might have to do the same to my Magna's after a little while. Very nice write-up and good work!
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  14. #14 Re: How to polish and restore aluminum exhaust. (Magnaflow) 
    SE Level Member Jbruce308's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Konvinced89 View Post
    Haha I can't argue, experience would slap the taste outta my mouth. But I know the feeling of a job well done, even if it's something most people won't notice. I followed a similar process(sandpaper, super-fine steelwool, polish) to do my fuel rails a few weeks ago, and it makes me smile every time I pop the hood.

    @Jbruce: I might have to do the same to my Magna's after a little while. Very nice write-up and good work!
    Thanks man and yeah im liken mine so far. The glasspack has helped much more then i thought it would on the raspy sound people get. And the only reason i polished them was because i was getting my exhaust done and they were off. If yuh can at least get the tips ur in good shape
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  15. #15 Re: How to polish and restore aluminum exhaust. (Magnaflow) 
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    I had no idea that polish had that big of an impact on the appearance but jeeze I believe I found where my next lil bit of spare money is going
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