Hi everyone!

Been awhile since I've posted, hope you all are doing great!

Here's my question: the exhaust tips, since I bought the car they were always dirty in appearance. I did a great deal of attempting to clean with washing the car etc but the exhaust tips never seem to get that nice clean chrome look but smudged in dirt that sticks to them, the rest of the car is flawless and the rims are easy to clean but the exhaust tips will need to go the extra mile to get them shiny.

A tenant of mine had recommended that I use S.O.S. soap pads.

I went ahead and tried it out, well I am surprised to say that I got 25% of that dirt off using the pads and some water BUT its hard to reach in certain area's of the tips to get to with the pads especially when they start to get wet, its difficult to really keep that cleaning effect going as the pad becomes too "Mushy".

I feel like I need to use a good brush to get down there but I certainly don't want to scratch the finish.

Any tips to clean them so they don't take sooo long to get done?? I spent like 10 minutes working the pads in different angles just to get 25% off of ONE exhaust tip. Would be nice to know if there is a good cleaner spray I can use and some kind of brush to really get that dirt off......

 

ThatSweet SRT6
I hope you realize the exhaust tips (inside) on an SRT6 are painted high temp black from the factory, vs. the Limited tips that are not painted black. The only way to eliminate the paint would be through the use of a solvent for paint removal, which could cause other issues when the car is fully warmed up.
Dennis
DTMenace

 

I remember hearing something about Drilling a hole on the bottom of the tip, and just let the black drip instead of compile on the top

I never did that to mine YET - perhaps others with experience can convince me of this method? Hey - if it helps, I'm going to do it. Providing I don't get rattle can noise.

 

Hi!

Thanks for the reply, but I have a question regarding that..

The end tips of the exhaust where there are two tips in the end of the back of the vehicle, those tips, the outside appearance when looking at them are originally chrome in color, there appears to be a dirty black dirt that sticks on the outside of them, using the SOS pad were able to remove some of the dirt and it is cleaning up nicely. I don't plan on cleaning the "inside of the tips" just the outside of them to give that shine... I've seen other SRT6's at a car meet before where it was beautiful and shiny. I'd love to know how to get that done to my SRT6.

Would it help if I took a picture to show you guys??

 

Are you 100% certain the tips were painted black from the factory on the SRTs? I also took a crack at cleaning mine off (used to own a Limited and used SOS pads/steel wool pads at the start and then maintained with Eagle One Chrome Polish) and chipped away what I thought was caked on crud but now know is paint.

Either way, I want to get rid of all of the black on the inside of the pipes. What do you guys recommend in terms of solvent safe for the chrome tips?

Thanks!

 

Hey Sweet .... just an FYI ..... using SOS pads (or Brillo) with the steel wool in the pad, will leave micro scratches, that over time will collect more dirt and grime quicker. Granted, that on the "chrome" part, when lightly used it might help, without too much scratching because of the relative hardness of the chrome. If it were me, I wouldn't do it. Get a metal polish called Flitz, comes in a tube like toothpaste, and claims to leave the metal virtually free from micro scratching. even products like Brasso can leave fine scratches. Just sayin ....

 

What would be good to use to remove the "dirt" if I was to use the polish Flitz??

Btw, if those tips are painted from the factory black, they sure look like dirt now years later.... I'd STILL like to remove it if I was able to get a small section of it off and it looks beautiful! the way it SHOULD be...

What I'm curious to know now is why is the limited Crossfires have them chrome then but the SRT6 painted black, if that is the case? I mean, it looks dirty, like no one ever took the time to clean them well.

 

Found this reply in a thread related to cleaning the exhaust tips. Found out that the tips are stainless, not chrome. Seems that they are infact painted black for the SRT6 but looks like carbon built up, I too used the SOS Pads and when cleaning off the "paint" it too doesn't appear to be paint but rather black dirt coming off. I much rather have the clean shiny look than the black anyways so I may just continue using the SOS pad to clean them up and maybe some turtle cleaning polish..

Spudracer used the SOS pads to get them clean and has an SRT6, quoted his post check it out:

crossfireforum.org/forum/detail-shop/48747-cleaning-exhaust-tips-2.html#post580717 (copy and paste into browser, if you click it takes you to an unavailable page.)

Read the rest of the replies in that thread.

 

Hey everyone,

Wanted to give you all a quick update. I ended up going to Advance Auto and purchased by Turtle a spray that is used to remove adhesive labels, not some strong paint thinner, I didn't want to use anything to strong but rather something less potent. I sprayed it on the exhaust tips, let it sit for 5 minutes, wrapped a plastic bag around the outter area's of the exhaust tips to protect the paint and I also made sure not to get spray into the holes of the exhaust. I then started to chip away with my SOS pad with some warm water. I got about 95% of it all off and it looks FANTASTIC, wow, who would've thought, it makes the SRT6 look like I just added a whole new exhaust system. I know most people won't even notice this type of change but I sure will when I'm coming up from behind towards the car and it sure looks SWEET!

I bought some Nevr Dull Magic Wadding Polisher to protect the shine.

I'd recommend it, its a nice touch to add.

I'll add more polish every time I do a car wash just to keep it shiny.

Another SRT6 with clean shiny Exhaust tips here

 

Those shiny tips on the NA get dirty really quickly and are a pain in the rump.

My NA is black, has OEM brake pads and shiny tips, that is a hard car to keep clean.

My SRT is Aero Blue, ceramic brake pads and black tips, it is a breeze to keep clean.

My decision is made quite easily.

 

Who ever owned my SRT6 before me took off the black paint, so the exhaust looks like a n/a. I have always cleaned it with Never-Dull wad and then wax the inside. That makes it real easy to wipe out the carbon buildup between cleanings. Even with K&N, it runs rich and trickles some black onto the exhaust inside even after a short ride.

 

I would think that this is the reason the inside of the SRT6 tips were black from the factory.

 

~ i wipe them out after every washing... and i use "nevr dull" wadding polish (non-abrasive) once a month or so to maintain the shine.

link & info... Home Page

 

I think it will be cleaned for the first time in 9 years! Lets see how good Nevt Dull is

 

If ALL SRT's have exhaust tips that come from the factory painted black, then I think there are quite a few of us who owe "Tom2112" a BIG apology.

 

I found a big help to keeping the tips clean longer is to always use a top tier gas in my car. I use Shell in my n/a & go many months before there is even a light haze that might be appearing. Most of time I have to run my finger across the i/s of the tip to really notice the slightest gray coating building up. I went to a neighboring state on a weekend trip a while back & there ETHANOL is way of life in most of their fuel. Sure enough after the 300 mile return run I immediately noticed a dark gray build up from the out of state fuel. Have used my top tier since I'm back & no more build up on my exh. tips.

 

I love the black inside, no more fiddling around with metal polish. One wipe three times a year, or every thousand miles and they are clean enough.

 

Agreed. I had shiny tips on the OBXRacing catback, but maxcichon and I painted the insides with dark satin grey "Gun Kote" and they look MUCH better. The OBX tips didn't quite match from the factory, one was a bit shinier than the other.

 

I have not figured out how to post a picture, but I have found the easiest way to make the pipes sparkling clean. Mine were a sort of brown looking like when metal gets real hot, so i tried some of the stuff we use for cleaning the glass stove top. I used a toothbrush and made sure it was in the grooves. Then wiped it off. It looked like new.

 

Well, I wish mine was an SRT, but it is just 'dirty'!hahahahha