How to remove black carbon deposit on chrome tailpipes?

Do you all remove the exhaust tips before cleaning them? Without removing them I've been able to clean up the visible areas using Autosol but there is still plenty of cleaning to be done which I can't easily access.

If I remove the screw on the underside of the tip will it just slide off?

Thanks.
 
IF, IF, IF you are thinking about the steel wool route then I suggest using wool made from bronze. It is available at marine (boat) supply stores. After use it will not leave tiny steel filings behind to rust later and it is likely softer as well. John
 
A friend of mine into firearms uses the below product from Birchwood Casey, it's quick, easy, and leaves a good shine.

"Lead Remover & Polishing Cloth"
"Brings back original luster. Quickly removes leading, burn rings, carbon residue including copper and plastic fouling, rust and tarnish. Excellent for stainless steel, nickel and most metal surfaces. Great for use on handguns, rifles, shotguns and muzzleloaders. Can be cut to size for removing unwanted residue inside the chamber, cylinder, forcing cone, bore and choke. Cleans and polishes metal, wood, glass, plastic and porcelain surfaces – ideal for sporting equipment, home and auto use"
 
Can someone let me know what I need to get the tips off an M exhaust. I tried a few different allen keys but not fitted - any ideas?
thanks
 
Bobbydm said:
FYI I used a product called luster lace. Its designed to clean spokes on chrome wire wheels, I had some in the garage so thought I'd try it on my exhaust trims as they looked pretty bad. It wraps around the exhaust pipe and all you need to do is pull on each end to clean it to near perfection. The strip is slightly abrasive and soaked in polish. Its a bit like soaking a shoe lace in polish but quite a bit more advanced due to the material of the strips. Might be worth giving it a try before going for the wire wool :cry:

Also it gets in between the pipes really easily!
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I just got some of this and I'm away to give it a blast, I'll take some pics as I do and post up the results.

Lee
 
daveg said:
Yes, but might take a firm tap with hammer/wood.
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Still haven't got round to trying this as I'm convinced that they must be almost welded on by now. When I removed the screws some water trickled out so I would have thought that the exhaust pipes underneath must be rusting.
 
As you will see below, the old pipes were in a hell of a mess. I liked the idea of luster lace as my pipes had a lot of thick burnt on gunge and were very dull.

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Started of with a vey light abrasive kitchen sponge vith some soapy bubbles on.

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Then I got the lusterlace out. I thought the product did pretty well considering the mess they were in, although it didn't really polish the metal to the mirror finish that I'd hoped for. I think I'm going to have to find a finer metal polish for that final buff. Also, like I know lots of you will point out, I do need to take the pipes off. In my defence I was in a bit of a hurry as I had to go pick the girl up and you can imaging how much she would love it if I was late cause I was cleaning my pipes.

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Looking at the pics I think you have hit the nail on the head with a finer polish, however, I did get better results on mine. Might be worth another attempt with a bit more time on your hands (my Mrs wouldn't accept me being late with an excuse like that either!) :P
 
tjlazer said:
Can someone let me know what I need to get the tips off an M exhaust. I tried a few different allen keys but not fitted - any ideas?
thanks
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X2 dont know whether they are different for the 3.0 but I had a quick look and there is just an internal threaded screw, how do you remove this?
 
texasjohn said:
Petrol works quite well at dissolving stuff too, but wipe it off quick after you're done.
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I have often used petrol to clean various marks on cars, tar is wiped away very esay with petrol, probably parafin would do the same
 
Taz x said:
texasjohn said:
Petrol works quite well at dissolving stuff too, but wipe it off quick after you're done.
Click to expand...

I have often used petrol to clean various marks on cars, tar is wiped away very esay with petrol, probably parafin would do the same
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Parafin was always used as a degreasre years back. Great for removing tar, grease and heavy soiling on engines and arches. Diesel works very well as a de-waxer and petrol is good at removing tar. Age old trick is using WD40 as its primary material is actually fish oil. :D
 
Autosol and fine grade wire wool usually works well although last week I was having trouble removing black deposits and build up of grime using 600 grit on some vectra GSI tailpipes!

ideally a dremel / drill with a small polishing attachment works very well
 
Jimmy Gee said:
tjlazer said:
Can someone let me know what I need to get the tips off an M exhaust. I tried a few different allen keys but not fitted - any ideas?
thanks
Click to expand...

X2 dont know whether they are different for the 3.0 but I had a quick look and there is just an internal threaded screw, how do you remove this?
Click to expand...

x3 - has anyone done this, mine feel and look like they have rivets holding them on...
 
x4 they are definately rivets.
My tips are a wee bit marked as i think the previous owner has cleaned them with some sort of strong solution.
Has anyone looked into how much new tips are?, i am too scared to ask!!!!!.
 
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