Cleaning Manifold pipes

[Tex]

Hi all I was wondering how everyone cleans there manifold pipes and/or paints them. Mine need some serious attention. Thanks.

[roverfj1200]

I think you mean headers? If so I do mine with emery wet and dry. I polished them up with 240 then 800 then 1200 grit. I now give the a rub over with 1500 when I wash the bike. Takes a bit of time to get them shiny but its cheep.

Cheers

Before and after shot.

[Tex]

Lol. Yes that is what I was referring to. After I posted I re read and noticed what I wrote. I couldn't find a way to edit. Wow that cleaned up nicely. I will be doing that this week.

[Tex]

Thanks Richard. Worked great. 1/2 way there.

Before

[Tex]

After

[ribbert]

Hi all I was wondering how everyone cleans there manifold pipes and/or paints them. Mine need some serious attention. Thanks.

Hi all I was wondering how everyone cleans there manifold pipes and/or paints them. Mine need some serious attention. Thanks.

I swore I would never have polished pipes but having give up on special paints and powder coating and black chrome not being in the budget, I relented. I know I'll hate myself once they're on the bike and dirty.

No one could ever argue with Pat and Leon's brilliant results but given the amount of this sort of thing I do, I'm always experimenting with ways to expedite the process.

This is the result of only two steps (with many combinations tried before)

360 emery cloth under a running tap then straight to the rag wheel with just one polishing compound.

Photos! It did happen!



What I stumbled on inadvertently was the cloth removes the paint quickly but it's abrasiveness degrades at just the right rate so by the time all the paint's off, the paper is wearing out and becoming quite smooth which leaves you with a smooth finish that only needs a polish on the wheel.
The degrading of the cloth effectively giving you a range of grits. This does not work with wet & dry.

If they're a PIA to keep shiny, I'll go with Rovers method and go for more of a brushed look with 1500 paper. This seems like a good compromise between appearance and maintenance.

Noel

[movenon]

They are a little work to keep looking good but they look a heck of a lot better than the old pipes.  Someday I might get them coated but for now they are just fine polished.  The factory black coating probably helped to dissipate some of the heat but I like the shinny look and to some degree you can "read" the pipes by there color.

George

[mikedastonfj1100]

I have thought about doing this to mine... But mine show alot of surface rust... Any suggestions to removing the rust?

[FJmonkey]

I have thought about doing this to mine... But mine show alot of surface rust... Any suggestions to removing the rust?

If your pipes are still stock then they may not polish out as well the later Stainless Steel pipes. You could get them coated but who knows how much life is left in them at their age. And they are double-walled, which is not a problem till one of the inner walls comes loose and you think you have a major engine problem. If you want polished then upgrade to to 86'+ pipes. I am not sure if Yamaha went back to regular steel.