Detailing tips for rust?

[WinstonR]

Hi all,

Looking for advice on cleaning my 2003 Honda hornet which has some surface rust on fittings, exhaust manifold and chain. Exhaust manifold is the worst and not sure I can do anything without actually taking it off?




[url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/HFidUKaA[/url]

[sociopath]

Is that really your chain? Have you ever oiled it?

[jjones]

sociopath said:

Is that really your chain? Have you ever oiled it?

On this note, have tried loads of crap over the years. Worth dry, various waxes, muc off lube etc etc now using 75/90 gear oil lightly applied - no fling, no rust and cheap as fk (used in the rain and on salted roads). It is also what the manufacture (DID) recommends on the box.

[Krikkit]

jjones said:

On this note, have tried loads of crap over the years. Worth dry, various waxes, muc off lube etc etc now using 75/90 gear oil lightly applied - no fling, no rust and cheap as fk (used in the rain and on salted roads). It is also what the manufacture (DID) recommends on the box.

I've just switched to gear oil as well, much better than the fact waxes and potions I've tried.

[trickywoo]

It’s a shame gear oil smells so bad because in all other respects it does a good job on a chain.

[bunchofkeys]

Harpic Power Plus 10x bog cleaner for the downpipes.
Must be this, not normal toilet bleach, as it uses hydrochloride acid. Probably best to remove the down pipes though, just easier to clean that way.

[podman]

Had a couple of bikes in like yours the last couple of weeks, had an early high mileage R1 which was in similar condition.

Ive seen good results with the toilet cleaners but ive also read it tarnishes again very easily? Not sure how true that is or not but I use various scotchrite pads and metal polish, I also used scotchbite wheels and polish in my drill and Dremel on fastners, Such as your wheel spindles, couple of before and afters of the R1 I fettled last week.

[rodericb]

podman said:

Had a couple of bikes in like yours the last couple of weeks, had an early high mileage R1 which was in similar condition.

Ive seen good results with the toilet cleaners but ive also read it tarnishes again very easily? Not sure how true that is or not but I use various scotchrite pads and metal polish, I also used scotchbite wheels and polish in my drill and Dremel on fastners, Such as your wheel spindles, couple of before and afters of the R1 I fettled last week.

Yeah, I used nylon scotchbrite on this exhaust from my ZX9R. This is after I started, about an hour into it with scotchbrite and water:



Had a lot of crud to get off to get at the metal underneath. this is how it turned out:



I did spend a fair bit of time on it as I was aiming to give it a polished finish (like as far as you'd get with sisal). The cruddy zinc coated fasteners got the scotchbrite treatment via Dremel. I got new little brackets for the footpegs. The hangers on the ZX9R have a chrome finish on the outer face which had pitting so I hit them with some 400 grit paper to give a brushed finish.

Edited by rodericb on Sunday 26th April 07:46

[WinstonR]

That looks great. Thanks all for advice so far. I had never heard about using toilet cleaner before.

I have a Dremel and drill so could get attachments - any links or suggestions for these?

[rodericb]

WinstonR said:

That looks great. Thanks all for advice so far. I had never heard about using toilet cleaner before.

I have a Dremel and drill so could get attachments - any links or suggestions for these?

Try the Scotchbrite pads to fit the Dremel etc from Ebay. The ones from Dremel are quite expensive and you'll get through a few of them if you're doing large areas. I think I went through ten on that exhaust..... that's after a fair amount of work with a drill mounted scotchbrite pad and hand rubbing.... If you get the crud off and find you've got corrosion and staining there's a light duty pickling gel called Metal Saver from Autosol.

Scotchbrite pads in the dremel will take paint off fairly easily. I easily roughed up the rear caliper holder so I could give it a repaint with combined paint/primer.

Edited by rodericb on Sunday 26th April 07:53

[Stuart Fordyce]

Given the general rustiness of the bike I'd be wary about taking the exhaust off. Had to do an exhaust swap on my 2008 Fazer. All the header nuts had stuck themselves on over time and a lot of the studs needed drilled out. Gave me an enormous bill that in the end would have made it more economical to We Buy Any Bike it.

[bunchofkeys]

bunchofkeys said:

Harpic Power Plus 10x bog cleaner for the downpipes.
Must be this, not normal toilet bleach, as it uses hydrochloride acid. Probably best to remove the down pipes though, just easier to clean that way.

Here you go.
I used a green Scotch Brite too, as the pipes were proper minging. Although they came up looking new.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXcM6g-JaBo

[podman]

WinstonR said:

That looks great. Thanks all for advice so far. I had never heard about using toilet cleaner before.

I have a Dremel and drill so could get attachments - any links or suggestions for these?

Along these lines...darker the colour, coarser the pad/wheel. Also get your self some brass brushes for it too.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/133237689056?chn=ps&n...

[podman]

rodericb said:

podman said:

Had a couple of bikes in like yours the last couple of weeks, had an early high mileage R1 which was in similar condition.

Ive seen good results with the toilet cleaners but ive also read it tarnishes again very easily? Not sure how true that is or not but I use various scotchrite pads and metal polish, I also used scotchbite wheels and polish in my drill and Dremel on fastners, Such as your wheel spindles, couple of before and afters of the R1 I fettled last week.

Yeah, I used nylon scotchbrite on this exhaust from my ZX9R. This is after I started, about an hour into it with scotchbrite and water:



Had a lot of crud to get off to get at the metal underneath. this is how it turned out:



I did spend a fair bit of time on it as I was aiming to give it a polished finish (like as far as you'd get with sisal). The cruddy zinc coated fasteners got the scotchbrite treatment via Dremel. I got new little brackets for the footpegs. The hangers on the ZX9R have a chrome finish on the outer face which had pitting so I hit them with some 400 grit paper to give a brushed finish.

Edited by rodericb on Sunday 26th April 07:46

Some TLC well applied there...👍

[Krikkit]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Dunno, a garage that hums of gear oil is a bit nasty

[Rubin215]

Easiest way to get your downpipes clean is dilute brick acid or cheap alloy wheel cleaner.

Spray it on cold pipes and leave it to dry, spray it on again, give it a few minutes and then wash it off with water.

By itself you will be stunned by the difference it makes, but if you want to go the whole hog then polish afterwards with HG stainless cleaner and mid-grade wire wool.


For rusty fasteners try using a finer grade wire wool and some oil to remove the rust without taking the plating off, leave a thin film of oil to stop it corroding again.

Your chain just needs to be used!

[V8RX7]

I use brick acid / wheel cleaner on stainless, instant results - no effort required

I use a bronze brush in a dremel to clean up fasteners etc

[Krikkit]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I suppose you nearly are while putting it on!

I don't mind that smell, makes it smell like a proper workshop rather than just a junk dumping ground that happens to have a bike in it.

[WinstonR]

podman said:

Along these lines...darker the colour, coarser the pad/wheel. Also get your self some brass brushes for it too.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/133237689056?chn=ps&n...

Thanks, have ordered a set.

[WinstonR]

I ordered a whole pile of sanding materials from eBay and they have started to arrive so I thought I would try them out tonight. Bloody hell it's tough work!




I know there's the harpic method but it seems to be a contentious subject online so I've been using scotchbrite, autosol and various drill attachments. Would probably be a lot easier with the manifold off the bike but I don't have the tools (read willpower) to remove it.