Nespo2330

After looking at my exhaust tips and noticing years of what appears to be carbon buildup, I decided to tackle cleaning them. Here's my experience. With a little elbow grease and ~ $2 my exhaust tips look like new.

I used turtle wax Chrome Polish. It cost two dollars at Walmart and did the job nicely. Simply clean the exhaust tips with soap and water first to remove baked on contaminates, then get to work. Rub the polish over the dark/dirty areas and press firmly to scrub the carbon off. Obviously the longer it's been without being cleaned, the more elbow grease needed. After, buff to a shine with a microfiber towel.

these were my tips before without a good clean for 2+ years:




And after the chrome polish:




There are of course different brands/types of polish but this one worked well for me and WAS ONLY TWO DOLLARS

pchang619

iTrader: (10)

Great job!!!

Grizsk

Looking good, are those OEM? Anyone know if there were different tips as available options? Mine don't look like that, they're oval shaped, angled and not as thickly rounded at the edge.

iinkz

I believe the rounded tips were for the 2011+ models

Nespo2330

The car is a 2012, but I'm not sure the diffference from year to year...

mandyfig

Tips look the same throughout the years.

Skier76

The little things make the difference! I used 0000 steel wool on mine. Really shines them up.

MAizz

iTrader: (8)

Sounds like GFX tips. I have both.

gustervon

I like it...good work. You inspired me to do the same.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Same here! Just make sure to use painters paint around the lower bumper or lip area surrounding the tip so it doesn't get roughed up by the steel wool.

dorkacho

iTrader: (5)

i have f sport exhaust. is the cleaning process the same? mine looks a bit rusted though..

what did you use to apply the polish and what did you use to rub?

thanks for sharing!

Aspect

you can use a microfiber cloth to apply the polish and buff out the tips, but if you have road tar and other imperfections you could get some coarse steel wool and add polish to that and buff the tips. Just wipe the excess polish off at the end with a clean dry microfiber cloth. The rust is usually just on the surface and should come out with the steel wool and chrome polish.

Nespo2330

Yeah the process is the same and as mentioned above, the polish can be applied with any cloth right over surface rust. It'll clean the rust right off. I used a cotton rag with a little more 'rough' surface than a microfiber towel to help with the scrubbing but it is more pressure than anything else.

buff after with a microfiber towel.

just FYI steel will most likely leave a brushed metal look that can't be buffed out as opposed to shined chrome from just polish

mandyfig

Goof Off is your friend for tar.

dorkacho

iTrader: (5)

thanks for sharing! will be trying this soon! last time it didnt work too well, maybe i didnt use enough pressure?