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Polishing SS exhaust pipes

Started by chiz, January 26, 2022, 04:08:49 PM

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chiz

Hi
I'm polishing these ss pipes from a later FJ and noticed the welds that are attaching the steel stubs that go into the head are lumpy and gross and take up quite a bit of area. Not like the clean small welds of the 84 pipe... has anyone encountered the same? and can the welds be ground down a bit? or is this asking for trouble?
Thanks Chiz

FJmonkey

A picture or two of the welds would help understand what you mean by lumpy and gross.
The glass is not half full, it was engineered with a 2X safety factor.

'86 Ambulance - Bent frame, cracked case, due for an overhaul
'89 Stormy Blue - Suits my Dark Side

ribbert

Quote from: chiz on January 26, 2022, 04:08:49 PM
Hi
I'm polishing these ss pipes from a later FJ and noticed the welds that are attaching the steel stubs that go into the head are lumpy and gross and take up quite a bit of area. Not like the clean small welds of the 84 pipe... has anyone encountered the same? and can the welds be ground down a bit? or is this asking for trouble?
Thanks Chiz

Chiz, your mention of welding is puzzling, do your pipes look like the ones below? They are standard SS late model headers.







Noel
"Tell a wise man something he doesn't know and he'll thank you, tell a fool something he doesn't know and he'll abuse you"

chiz

You can see the bulbous welds on inside od ss pipe

fj1289

I wouldn't worry about that at all!  "Theoretically" it may be best if those are all smooth and tidy everything - but in the real world there will be absolutely no difference - measurable, perceivable, or otherwise! 

Polish them up - get them looking nice - and enjoy!

Pat Conlon

Tip: After they are polished up nice and shiny and after you reinstall them....wipe them down with lacquer thinner and a clean cloth....do it twice....that way when you heat those tubes up, you won't burn in any of your oily fingerprints.
The tubes start off shiny silver but then turn to a golden color after some heat cycles.

Hell yea, I ground down those nasty inner welds, just because I could....love my Dremel.

Cheers
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chiz

Yes thanks been doing that all through this episode and plan to do what you suggest in the end as well... It's too bad that the pipes were not formed as carefully as I would have liked but they figured they were painting them black anyway.
Chiz