Rusty Mufflers!

Hey guys, I've got a question about dealing with RUST!!!

I got these mufflers on ebay for my '85 VF500F, but they have a good deal of surface rust that needs to be addressed before I put them on.

Anyway, they have two parts I guess you could say: a black painted pipe, which is rusty on the outside and a little bit on the inside; and an apparently aluminum can, which is alright on the outside, but the baffles on the inside are all rusty.
I'm not positive that the can is aluminum, since I don't know much about anything, but I think it is. I can tell you that the cans aren't magnetic and the pipes are.

Anyway,

Here are some pictures:


Here's where it would attach to the common collector:


Here's where the black pipe and the aluminum can meet:






Now here is a look at the inside. It was pretty tricky to get these pictures to turn out!

This is from the back end. You can see the rusty baffles down there.


Here you can kind of see some light surface rust on the inside of the pipe


And finally here's a view from the back, which didn't turn out as well, but you can see the rusty baffles anyway



SO ANYHOW, that's the situation. I'd like to at least get all the rust off the outside and repaint so it looks halfway decent before I install them.

What do you guys think of that rust on the inside? I imagine it will only get worse if I ignore it, so what can I do? Is there some chemical I can spray in there to neatralize it or something?

PART 2: I'm also thinking about painting the aluminum part black as well, because I think it would look better all black. Is the procedure for painting on aluminum any different than painting on steel?

I have ruled out getting this stuff ceramic-coated because I'm on a tight budget.

Now, here are the supplies I have at home so far:
A sandblaster and plenty of blasting grit for it
A little can of POR-15 Black Velvet High-Temp Paint
A quart of POR-15 Solvent (to dilute the paint)

What else will I need for this little project?

And guys, it's safe to assume I don't know what I'm doing, because this is the first time I've done something like this!

Thanks a lot for any help guys!!!

-Chris

 

same here. i don't know much about using a sandblaster. but a grinder wheel and steel wool to remove rust from the outside would work.

i hope you didn't pay too much for them in that condition

 

I was the one that posted about the radiator shop, but that won't work for pipes. I know they have some rust inhibitor stuff that you can get at just about any auto store. It comes in an spray can. It turns all rust and surounding areas black. I used some on the doors of my old Dodge Ram. I don't see why it wouldn't work. Also after you install the pipes and run them the insides will get a little coating of carbon and you will blow all the loose rust out in the first couple min. I think the pipes are in pretty good shape considering they probably sat around for a little while. Good luck with the bike.

 

Thanks man, I'll check out that rust preventative stuff.

I'll see what I can get done this weekend; I think I'll be able to get it to work out pretty well!

 

the rust can be dissolved with naval jelly. as for the sandblasting you run the risk of blowing through the heavily corroded areas. i would separate the pipe from the can, take them to a body shop and have them media blasted (walnut shells work best) then any serious damage can be taken care of with the tig welder. then a blast of high heat enamel and you should be in buisness. as for the cans with the off you can polish that aluminum up they'd look killer. get some aluminum rivets from your autoparts store and youll be ready to pound asphalt.:flame:

 

Sound like one to me. If I can find the can of rust stuff at the house I will let you know what brand it is.

 

Check out the "Eastwood" catalog for car and paint accsories! Or go to your local Auto Zone or NAPA and see if they have the super high temp paint. They have some high temp paint in a spray can that is very good.

Prep the black part of the pipe as needed, which a wire brush and some sand paper will most likely do it, wash the dust and crap off, let completely dry. Tape around the aluminum with blue or green masking tape and newspaper to cover the aluminum and spary, let dry and presto!!!

Then buy some "Mothers" polish in the white and red can. Its at the car parts store too! And remove the newspaper and masking tape and use the Mothers on the aluminum. It will take a little work, but it really will shine up the cans nice. I hate when they get that dull gray look to them.

Just follow the directions on both, and you can't go wrong, and it won't cost a bunch of time and money!

As for the inside, screw it! I highly doubt it will cause any problems.

P.S. the high temp paint sometimes smokes when it first gets hot, it's supposed too.

To recap:

1.Sand or blast the black parts only, full removal of paint and rust may not be nessicary, check paint can directions. Do not sand or blast aluminum part!

2.Mask up cans with tape and newspaper, spary black part, let dry.

3. Unmask cans and use soft buffing rags and Mother's polish.

4. Attach to V-Four and go! Make sure you have all the attachment pieces!

It's easy

BZ

 

Ok here's an update:

I went to the auto paint store and they had some stuff that neatralizes rust. HOWEVER, under high temperature they said it will just flake apart, and the baffles would probably be worse off than when I started. So that idea is out the window.

Jaymz, is your stuff okay for high temperature?

Anyway, as for the outside, I started sand blasting the black parts, but it was slow going, so I put some paint removing gel on them. Now the paint is just falling off beautifully! I'm letting more of the stuff soak in now, and then I'll go back and sand blast a little more to get the bits of rust that were under the old paint.

My goal is to get some paint on these suckers tonight!

Now for the aluminum, I don't think I really want to polish it, I'd rather paint everything nice and black. I never really liked shiny metal on sportbikes, especially badass old school ones like mine

I'm thinking it would be cool if I can get some red "F1" decals like the ones on there now, and stick them on the black pipes when they're all done. I'm thinking it will look pretty frickin awesome. I'll have to start calling around and see if anyone has some old ass decals lying around.

Well now I'm gonna go take a look and see how the paint removing crap is going. I'll put some pictures up later tonight!

 

Ok I take back what I said, paint will probably go on tomorrow, cause it's getting dark and I still have to sand blast some more.

But the old paint is almost all gone and it's lookin good!

 

I wouldn't worry about the baffles, the heat and carbon will keep things from rusting. For the mufflers, you could just take a scotchbright pad and buff them. My supertrapps look good like that.

 

OK!!!! I take back what I said again!

I got the rest of the sandblasting done, and threw some paint of the steel pipes!

I didn't do the aluminum parts yet, I will decide their fate later... I'm still leaning towards painting them black though, but we'll see.

Pics will be uploaded shortly! Just give me a few minutes to pick the sand out of my eyes, hair, ears, nose, shirt, pants, socks, shoes, etc............

 

If you want to paint your aluminium parts, buff them with a scotchbrite. Buy a
spray can of "vinyl wash primer" and spray a thin coat of this primer on the aluminium. After, shoot your high temp paint.
The aluminium part will be colder than the steel parts so a standard vinyl wash primer will do the job!

 

Alright! This is what I got done today:

I started by sandblasing the major rust spots and loose paint off


If you were ever curious, this is what a sand blasting encolsure looks like in rural Wisconsin:


I made a stylish doo rag out of mom's dish towel to keep some of the sand from going down the back of my shirt



Anyway, after getting the easy crap off, my dad busted out this awesome goop that loosens the paint right up! And it smells good too!




After glopping this stuff on, you have to let it work for like a half hour


Then I was able to scrape a lot more paint off with a plastic putty knife!


After repeating that a couple times, we washed the goop off and I was able sand blast the remaining paint and rust away.

My dad rigged up a board to hang the stuff from


Rather than watching the bare metal rust again while it warms up enough to paint (it was pretty cold outside), I used this heat gun to warm them up quickly


Ooooh, here is the stuff


And on it goes...


Looking pretty good


Here's one done, it looks kind of a weird color, but it's actually black


And here's two done!


The paint is actually not very glossy, but I think it's partly because we painted on pretty rough metal. Anyway, we'll give it another coat later and see where it's at. If it's not shiny by then, I'll spray some glossier stuff on!

 

Listen to Stufly Chris.

I was just about to say aluminium is not like steel, and painting it can be a bit of work since surfaace prep is key.

However, if you don't want to polish them up and paint is the onlt thing you want...maybe check out your local powdercoat & electro-static spray company.

See what they say. Just a thought.

BZ

 

Are you guys sure? When I called POR-15, the guy said all I should do to the aluminum is rough it up with sand or scotch brite, and the paint should stick just fine!

 

OK! I got some more work done this morning!

First I used the heat gun and a razor blade to get the old decals off.

I talked to POR-15 again, and the guy said NOT to use any primer on the aluminum, just rough it up good. Apparently POR-15 paints are 'different from conventional products.' That's fine with me cause I don't feel like buying any fancy primer today anyway!

I didn't have any scotchbrite pads to rough up the aluminum, but a few more minutes with the sandblaster and it was ready to go!


I put a nice coat of Black Velvet on both cans




The flash made these two look really wierd, but it's actually all black, and that end is cover nicely




Now I have to let it dry for a few hours. The instructions say after the paint is dry, I can re-coat after it's been heated to 400 degrees. So that will be the next step!