cleaning my headers?

[BrianEclipse]

a while back i spilt various fluids on my headers and like a dumbass never fulling cleaned them off. now they are looking like shit after burning it all off. what would be my best bet at cleaning them up? thanks

[Turbodog97]

I just hooked one of those wire brushes to my drill and sanded it down. But be careful in the process, thats how I broke my radiator!! lol

[1stGenRocks]

yea the front header is easy to get to and you can clean it with any kind of metal polish or cleaner. the back one is a real bitch to find but keep looking. once you find it you might want to change out your muffler bearings too.

HEADER not HEADERS

[david-b]

"yea the front header is easy to get to and you can clean it with any kind of metal polish or cleaner. the back one is a real bitch to find but keep looking. once you find it you might want to change out your muffler bearings too."

LOL. Thats funny shit right there!!



Funny story,

when I installed my exhaust, header and all myself, I took it for a little spin, to see what it sounded like and acted like. Now, I worked on that bad-boy for 12 hours straight, so I was tired. I took it for a spin, and after a short trip, the exhaust was REALLY loud and I lost major performance. I pull into an alley and open the hood to see where the sound was coming from It sounded like near the front, so I looked at the header. I had a little wind-breaker jacket on, the kind almost made out of plastic. I pull it over my hand and give the header a pull... AS THE CAR NOT ONLY RAN FOR 10 MINUTES, BUT WAS STILL RUNNING!! The jacket totally disintegrated right before my eyes, and there was the nastiest fouliest smell ever. My hand was also one big blister. Nasty. Turned out one bolt on the DP to the cat fell out, causing a massive leak. For a week after I installed the exhaust, you could still smell the jacket burning on the header. My hand was burnt for 3 weeks after

I've been trying to clean it off ever since and can't get ANYTHING to do it. Polishing it, brake cleaning, heavy-duty rags.... nothing. Nothing will get that thing clean.

[-The Stig-]

Originally Posted by david-b

I pull it over my hand and give the header a pull... AS THE CAR NOT ONLY RAN FOR 10 MINUTES, BUT WAS STILL RUNNING!!

betcha wont do that again...

[imtheoneandonlyD]

Lol, that story belongs in the OT: Best Son of a bitch moments.

[david-b]

Hey, that wasn't funny at all. This goes to show how much we love our cars (at least how much I do)... I drove home, LOUD as hell, hand burning, jacket burning on header, picked the car up and fixed the bolt. Couldn't use my right hand though, but I worked around it. Fixed it that night and test drove again right after.

Yeah I know... I was stupid.

[BrianEclipse]

wire brush for the header? wouldnt that scratch the hell out of it? really i need to clean the header and almsot everything else in there. if anyone could give me some details on cleaning all of it that would be great. thanks and take care everyone.

[BlackShadowTSi]

you can polish them with a 1000 grid sand paper and some water (if your header is aftermarket like the ones of david-b) and you won't scrach it "if you are carefull"