Bringing Taitec Center Exit Exhaust back to Life

found a great deal on a used taitec center exit exhaust recently. Looked pretty horrible when i first saw pics of it but thought it had potential. Spent a couple weeks polishing it in my spare time using various 1000-2000 grit sandpaper, mother's powermetal scratch removing polish, powermetal polish (liquid), mother's md, cone and mini powerball. I was pretty amazed at the results but definitely do not want to do it again. :shock:

Before:




After

Huge amount of work - I can appreciate that. Is that plated or did you polish stainless steel to that finish? What a gorgeous result though. Now let's hear what it sounds like.

M Baker said:

Huge amount of work - I can appreciate that. Is that plated or did you polish stainless steel to that finish? What a gorgeous result though. Now let's hear what it sounds like.

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all i did was polish the crap out of it, not sure if its plated from the factory? I don't think it is though. Looking at pics of new taitec exhausts seems like only the tips are polished as the piping has more of a matte satin look.

It's a piece of art! Almost a shame to hide it under the car.

AMAZING work. I would not have the patience to do that!

nice, you better hang that exhaust on the wall because they will looks the same after a few thousand miles of used.

holy crap! That looks awesome

wow!! I cant believe it came out that good

Holy smokes. Great work!

M Baker said:

It's a piece of art! Almost a shame to hide it under the car.

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All the more reason to have his open taitec open rear diffuser!

Here's mine afte 2 years of heavy use:

In dental school we'd call that a "make it shine and get a nine." Of course, getting a nine was the highest grade possible when working with gold. :biggrin:

Is that titanium?

Very nice work! Now pm me your address so I can drop my GTLW off to you for polishing...:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

DocL said:

In dental school we'd call that a "make it shine and get a nine." Of course, getting a nine was the highest grade possible when working with gold. :biggrin:

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Hahah, we had the same phrase in dental school. BU eh? Northwestern here.

Looks so good it probably sounds better!

Absolutely amazing….. I didn’t think it was possible to get the piping that clean!

Wow, great work.

Looks damn amazing, I'm tempted to do the same... but damn, those Mother's balls are expensive, $25+ for one foam rubber ball? I figure it's going to cost $100 to duplicate the materials you used give or take a few $$. How do the Mother's balls :wink: hold up and do you think they're any better than a wheel? And the big question: how does the exhaust look now, after five month of driving? Worth the effort?

Russ said:

And the big question: how does the exhaust look now, after five month of driving? Worth the effort?

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That's the $100 question!

The condition of the exhaust is still the same as 5 months ago, polished metal holds up better to the elements because the surface is harder for particles to cling onto and tarnish/oxidize. I also have been wiping any spots i can get to with metal sealant about once every couple months, not sure how much it helps but i think just keeping the surface clean makes the biggest difference. I know that being in southern california with our mild weather and not taking the car out in the rain is a big factor as well. Hope this helps :smile:

wow. amazing car. great job polishing the pipes.

Love it...love it...love it. I usually do this with my exhaust every winter.

by the way do you have any high-res shots?? thanks