header polished?

[1badtitan90]

Can my header be polished.. I have seen it done but not sure if mine is the right type.. feels kind rough.. thanks guys

 

[1badtitan90]

 

[vtech007]

WD40 (or even plain water) and ScotchBrite - works wonders - looks fantastic! Repeat in time as necessary. To me it looks better than paint, coatings or wrapping.

 

[wolfo68]

I used either 12000 or 14000 grit on mine and it looked like a mirror.

 

[winnetka]

I believe the earlier models had a harder coating which made it better for polishing with ScothBrite and looking great. The later models (maybe 2008 and later?) had a thinner header coating which looked like crap when you tried to polish it because it was so thin that it started rusting real fast. That's what happened to my 2010 headers.

 

[1badtitan90]

Mines an 06

 

[user_deleted]

WD40 (or even plain water) and ScotchBrite - works wonders - looks fantastic! Repeat in time as necessary. To me it looks better than paint, coatings or wrapping

agreed.
any penetrant like kroil, WD, CRC...all work well with the scotchbrite pad method.

 

[50dro]

Mine's an 04. WD plus green Scotch-brite then a little metal polish does wonders.

1 caution though...I've heard that the residue left behind from header wrap is near impossible to remove.

www.5-0dro.com

 

[CrazyTexan]

residue left behind from header wrap is near impossible to remove.

That explains alot. I had mine wrapped last summer and burned all the color out of it so I took it off and the pipes looked like shit. Ive been working them every now and then, but theres some spots that are pretty stubborn.

 

[1badtitan90]

Does the green s otchbrite work better than red

 

[50dro]

I think red is a bit more abrasive. I like the green because you can buy it just about anywhere. I get mine at Wally-world!

 

[vtech007]

I read a review on a wrist watch forum that, "The red 3M Scotch Brite pad leaves a much smoother, much finer finish than the tried and true green and yellow SB pad. I was always very happy with the results the green and yellow pad provided, so I am extremely pleased with the even nicer finish from the red pad."

These guys tend to be perfectionists.

You can read the entire review with photos here:


New red Scotch Brite pad even better

 

[ReconLdr]

I've heard that the residue left behind from header wrap is near impossible to remove.

This is very bad news for me..... I guess I have to rewrap them...

 

[vtech007]

I wouldn't give up and re-wrap until I have given it all the elbow grease I've got...

 

[50dro]

I don't use the foam backed type. I use this:

I cut them in approximately 2"x3" pieces and scrub away! I get mine looking pretty good in less than an hour.

I know I said residue before but I'm wondering if it's more of an etching into the steel that the wrap does? If that's the case, you may need more than elbow grease to get past that...Not impossible but difficult.

 

[marko138]

I wet sand with 1000 grit paper than polish with Mothers Billet. A couple of coats. Repeat every season or every other.

For comparison:

 

[J_Undisputed]

A trick I used on mine: Take the scotch bright pad and wrap it around the header. Not to snug where it won't move and not too loose where you get a lot of slack. Use a piece of duct tape to secure it closed on the seam... and take a long strip of emery cloth (velco tape works too if your afraid of accidental scratches) and use the friction between the two to do the use shoe shine/cable saw method, its also good for getting the back of the pipe if you did visible parts by hand. Use thinner strips of the scotch bright pad for where the headers curve. (Also take the right side scoop off first, if you have it )

 

[1badtitan90]

Well for some reason mine is being stubborn as hell. Been working on it for about 5 hours. Looks OK. But I'm very picky when it comes to my bike. More polishing I guess

 

[1badtitan90]

well here it is. After 6 hours. Still doesn't look all that great to me. Everyone else's looks way better. Oh well. Maybe ill try more another day

 

[Phazernut]

I used the green ones and WD40 on my 09. Works great. Took about an hour the first time. Only a few minutes to touch up after that.