Header polishing

ATR84 · Post by **ATR84** » Tue Sep 08, 2020 4:31 pm

I want to make my Mugen header more shiny.

I had a go with autosol on Sunday, while it improved it, it didn't do a lot in the grand scheme of things. Is there anything else I can do myself or does it need to come off and go to a specialist of some kind?

I don't want to heat wrap it really.

Post by **RattyMcClelland** » Tue Sep 08, 2020 5:03 pm

You can polish it with a full menzera metal polish kit on a drill but after a few heat cycles it will be discoloured again as that's the nature of high heat and polished stainless steel.

https://www.thepolishingshop.co.uk/budg ... l%20polish

ATR84 · Post by **ATR84** » Tue Sep 08, 2020 5:24 pm

Yeah but that Mugen header has probably been on the car for most of it's life, if I kept on top of it and just went over it with autosol every so often it would probably be ok? My main issue is getting it to the clean/polished stage. Thanks for the link, I will consider that as an option.

What about ceramic coating?

Post by **RattyMcClelland** » Tue Sep 08, 2020 6:01 pm

Well consider my shiney polished hytech stainless header went on my lude and it was dull brown by the time I went home from performance autoworks where fitted to Leicester.

Try Zircotec for a ceramic coating. It's around £400 for a 2 piece header, they had mine for 4 weeks and didn't touch it. I got them to send it back as PAW needed it. Useless but apparently good.

ATR84 · Post by **ATR84** » Wed Sep 09, 2020 9:18 am

Well they lost £400 of business for being slow, maybe they don't need the money

There are some local companies to me that offer this service, so might give it a go.

Is removing the header an easy DIY job or do I need a ramp etc? It looks like I can just get it out via the engine bay........

Scott560 · Post by **Scott560** » Wed Sep 09, 2020 11:01 am

I wouldn't run the risk of trying to remove it yourself. Exhaust bolts are always a PITA, and you may be unlucky enough for a stud to snap or bolt get mangled.

You would need to jack the front of the car up, the get to the bolts where the header meets the downpipe. You would also need to replace the gaskets ideally which might be hard to get hold of?

For a purely cosmetic procedure , i would leave it in place.

ATR84 · Post by **ATR84** » Wed Sep 09, 2020 1:34 pm

Good point Scott. I think I would prefer just to polish what is visible when you open the bonnet, I found this guide, thoughts on this method? I could do this with it in situ, yes I won't be able to get to all of it, but to the bits you can easily see I would.

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-acu ... 439/page3/

Scott560 · Post by **Scott560** » Wed Sep 09, 2020 3:27 pm

I've never tried polishing my exhaust so couldn't comment much on that front. doing it by hand on the car will be hard work - you probably want to get some kind of mechanised method on the go, but space is limited.