Cleaning ti headers

[Demannu]

My akra downpipes would make Weeksy cry. I've tried autosol, no joy. Not going to use harpic!
Anyone got some special goop (no, not Gwinny's foofoo juice) that will bring back that ti gleam.

[KungFooBob]

Why not the Harpic, the tinternets are awash with recommendations for it?

[Demannu]

Harpic is a 9% solution of hydrochloric acid.
Anything more than 5% will start to eat your pipes, that's why it gives such spectacular results, it's dissolving the pipes.
Not likely to apply it every week, but have no desire to disolve parts of my bike.

[KungFooBob]

Mix it 50/50 with council pop?

[Screwdriver]

You could try citric acid. I use it for all sorts, mostly rust removal but it's handy to have a bag hanging around. You could make your own sherbet...

[mangocrazy]

Buy a 5 litre container of brick cleaner (28% hydrochloric acid) and dilute it 1:5 (or 1:6 if you're nervous). 30 litres of sub-5% hydrochloric acid. You can clean a lot of metal with that...

Or do as Screwd suggests and buy a big bag of citric acid off ebay. Lots of uses.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Plus one on the "just water it down" approach. Might be obvious thing to say, but get some eye protection first!

I have 5kg tubs of both citric acid and bicarb (should probably keep em apart from each other)...they're great for all kinds of domestic jobs and way cheaper. Fancy cleaners pretty much just contain those sorts of things anyway, so just proceed straight to jail and do not collect £200 instead.

Pretty unusual to find something that one of those two can't deal with, perhaps in combination with my steam cleaner

[Count Steer]

Some folk out there recommend welder's pickling paste. It's a mix of hydrochloric and nitric acid!

I found that there tends to be sort of glaze forms on the hotter end so a mild abrasive before applying any weak acid might help to keep the result looking more even (or mix the mild abrasive in with the weak acid to make a rubbing paste?). I know I ended up, after much effort, with a result that was still 'Meh. It'll do'.

Apparently there's some silicone spray you can apply after to keep things looking nicer longer. Can't see it working myself, or it'll make the job harder next time.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Mild abrasive is where the bicarb comes in handy.

Works terribly with citric acid though!

[Trinity765]

Hold my beer.

I've found that wet and dry 600 grit sandpaper (used wet) is the best thing to start them off and then Autosol metal polish.

[Horse]

Apparently there's some silicone spray you can apply after to keep things looking nicer longer. Can't see it working myself, or it'll make the job harder next time.

Hmmm sounds like BMW's supposedly corrosion resistant wheel paint. That peeled in patches and looked awful.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Yeah but the paint itself didn't corrode, it's fine. Just not on the wheel any more.

[Count Steer]

Apparently there's some silicone spray you can apply after to keep things looking nicer longer. Can't see it working myself, or it'll make the job harder next time.

Hmmm sounds like BMW's supposedly corrosion resistant wheel paint. That peeled in patches and looked awful.

All I could find was 'design engineering silicone coating' which is supposed to be for high temp applications...but appears to be black or white. Looks like it's used before they put that 'orrible wrap fabric on exhausts (which is another way to hide unsightly headers).

[Count Steer]

Hold my beer.

I've found that wet and dry 600 grit sandpaper (used wet) is the best thing to start them off and then Autosol metal polish.

If you use that welders pickling paste you may not have enough fingers left to hold the beer.

[Demannu]

We're going with pink stuff.
Apparently its 60% quartz which is why its aces on metal!
There may be pictures!

[BBB]

I've got this

http://www.autosol.com/mobile/Product.aspx?id=37520

Works very well on stainless doesn't mention or not mention titanium.

[KungFooBob]

I've got this

http://www.autosol.com/mobile/Product.aspx?id=37520

Works very well on stainless doesn't mention or not mention titanium.

Apart from the bit where it does mention titanium

[Mr. Dazzle]

Bluing is primarily caused by getting hot though, so it's just gonna happen again.

[Pgm]

Any update on this ?

[Demannu]

Bit the bullet and used a 6% h2so4 mix. Rubbed it on, gave it 5 mins then rinsed. Super impressed with the results.