electrolysis, rust, muffler chrome & preservation

There's some slight goosebump-like areas where the chrome is breaking down on the mufflers but the underlying metal itself is quite intact. At the back of the muffler the flat plate is showing a fair amount of surface rust. The crossover pipe is rusted but also quite solid. where the hangers are welded to the exhausts there's some rust in the crevices that are going to be hard to reach.

So I was thinking of using the sodium carbonate & battery charger approach to put the muffler in a plastic tub and etch away the rust. Then I plan to paint the flat plate and hopefully find a metal protector to put on the chrome to inhibit further breakdown.

My questions are if the chrome will have problems if I use this non-abrasive method to remove the rust. And is there some effective chemical that will go on the mufflers when I'm done that will slow down or stop the rusting & chrome breakdown once I get them back to looking as good as possible?

Thanks!

 

use some of this
http://www.permatex.com/products/automo ... atment.htm
then apply some high temp paint over it. It works well, can be done with exhaust still installed, and holds up well.

 

Have somebody bake the exhaust in an oven, then media blast and ceramic coat for a permanent rust-inhibitor. Doesn't sound like the rust is too bad, yet. Good luck
Jamie

 

Hi Jamie,

Haven't really thought of Ceramic coating them. Who does that? I'd have to see what they'd look like afterward. These have some very minor dents and a few scraped areas at the end of the megaphone but nothing major.

I do have some 1200 degree Stainless Steel paint I was going to spray on the old headers but found this exhaust & the headers are a tad blue but not rusty.

As they are now if they were left untouched structurally they would last for years, it's the cosmetic I'm thinking about. Also, I'm at a point where I have to watch where my $ are going. The replacement parts have cost a bit to obtain.

& HI DW,

I have used "extend" with great results in the past. Not sure how well this stuff would hold up under exhaust temps.

The electrolysis would be a good way to remove the rust I think but I don't know its effects on Chrome.
Gary

 

I use a bunch of Diet Coke and crumpled tin foil first, then neutralize, treat, and paint. You'll be amazed what the Diet Coke will do.

 

Gary,
Here are mine I just got back from being ceramic coated. No rust, and will last a long, long time (they say forever) at the shop. Anyway, they came out better than I had hoped.

 

Intermission... (deleted an irrelevant post)

 

Jamie,

I did a google and found some shops that do it. I guess there's more than a few that do. Nice! $250 was a quote I got for aluminum colored ceramic coating. One place said there is a shiny chrome like finish but they only did a satin finish. For the satin finish they wanted $300...

Are yours aluminum & are they the satin variety? I have no clue.

 

Gary,
This is the "high temp" chrome. It's not exactly chrome but pretty close, I will polish a little bit with simi chrome and it will get even brighter. Yeah, they did a great job and also did the inside of the headers, couldn't do the inside on the mufflers due to the baffles.

 

If you drink lots of Classic Coke when you have kidney stones, it rounds off their sharp edges and dissolves small stones & shrinks the larger ones so they don't rip nearly as much when passing. Put an old wish bone or a nail in coca cola for a few days & see what's left.

That's why I avoid soft drinks like coke. Nasssty on your body.

Gary

 

I don't drink soda either...