Lo Peeps

Need advice on what would be the best thing to do with these sad looking tips

They can't be cleaned as they are pitted

So was thinking new custom exhaust = probably out of the question due to pending horrendous vet bill.

Get them taken off ( if this is possible ) and get re-chromed.

Get new tips = probably going to be to expensive

Am open to suggestions

To me its the only thing that really spoils the car

See if you can get stainless steel pipe that fits tightly over these. Polish those and fix them with hi temp Loctite.

You can always change them out that way. MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

Thanks ebajema , sounds like a plan that wouldn't cost the earth

Cheers
Dave Current : 4.2 S/C, now Sold
Previous : V70 Volvo, S40 Volvo ( a very reliable old banger ), E39 M5, Carlton Diplomat and the list goes on

Life Sucks but ya just have to do the best you can with what you have !

Mine looked like that until about a year ago until, whilst lying under the car, I realised they were supposed to be shiny. I gave them a good clean with hot water, then with engine degreaser, followed by a couple of sessions with chrome polish. They looked great and it was relatively cheap and simple.

The family thought polishing a bit of pipe under the car very sad, but for us blokes the simple pleasures are hard to come by nowadays. 2014 5.0 Supercharged Autobiography & 2015 3.0SDV6 HSE Lux Discovery 4
2005 4.2 Supercharged Vogue SE & 2011 3.0SDV6 HSE Discovery 4
2002 4.4 Vogue
2000 4.6 Vogue
2010 Freelander 2 TD4 HSE
2009 Freelander 2 TD4.e 2009
1992 Mercedes 300D
1986 Renault 2.1 Turbo D
1976 Morris Marina 1.8

Mr muscle oven cleaner  Present :2008 TDV8 HSE
Gone Audi A5 2.7TDI
Gone Discovery 3 HSE
Gone Mercedes CLK
Gone Range Rover 2.5 DSE

I am sure you could improve them. ( though I do like Eugenes idea of some kind of custom made "sleeve")

A quick Google returned this :

http://www.incrediblydetailed.com/how-to-clean-exhaust-tips/

http://www.bssa.org.uk/topics.php?article=77

I use autosol metal polish, off to buy #0000 steel wool to apply it with Alcohol and eBay is never a good mix

2006 4.2 Supercharged, Java Black

@ RRBlue think it might be worth try but as they are pitted am not sure if it will work , will look better than they do at the mo tho

@ Googsy , yet again might be worth a try but as said above not sure if it is going to cure the problem but willing to give it a go.

@ E4 GUY , I think you are right in that they could be improved , I do have some autosol buried somewhere ( got loads of tools and stuff like autosol but clueless and being disabled is a big disadvantage as it normally means paying someone to do something I would love to do myself but I know that after doing so I will be in agony , hey ho such is life
But as you say I to like Eugenes idea , just a case of finding someone who can fabricate something like that as that would make them look like new.

I spoke to Dan @ Duckworths and apparently the tips are not removable but part of the back box and when he told me the price of a new back box ( bearing in mind I was thinking about getting like others on here the back box painted ) I nearly had another heart attack, so that is not an option with horrendous pending vet bill :bulb:

Thanks for the ideas guys

Cheers
Dave Current : 4.2 S/C, now Sold
Previous : V70 Volvo, S40 Volvo ( a very reliable old banger ), E39 M5, Carlton Diplomat and the list goes on

Life Sucks but ya just have to do the best you can with what you have !

Hi Dave, I remember that you are suffering from some pretty bad back issues so I understand that long times underneath the car are a problem. It is an option to lie on a rollerbed, the type mechanics use when working on a car in the old days before the hydraulic lifts became popular ??

You would need to protect your face, especially your eyes quite well though, working with chemicals and abrasives.

The suggestions of the other guys are a good start I'd say while trying to find a fitting piece of tubing.

For the polishing, if you have a little Dremel tool with some polishing discs, you don't have to do a lot of hard work that could affect your back. Especially if you don't have to do it underneath the car.

If that doesn't work, making the outside of the pitted tips smooth and straight and clean them (for the loctite to bond) needs to be done anyway. Note that stainless steel used to need Loctite Activator as well. The tips don't get very hot, relative to the rest of the exhaust and high temp Loctite can take up to 175 C. It is incredibly strong on a part that sees virtually no load, so you may want to use it sparingly so you can replace the tips.

The trick is to find stainless tube with the correct internal diameter so it fits snuggly over the old tips. That way you don't have to do too much extra work. You may have to buy a length of tube somewhere unless you have friends working in the metalworking industry that have short offcuts lying around. Maybe worth even calling a bespoke exhaust firm and ask them for offcuts.

Lastly, you may also just go to the car shops (Halfrauds and the likes) and look for cheap stainless tips there. You never know what you might find for a few quid that will last you a while. You know the likes that are added to the boy racer cars. I reckon if you find one that fits snuggly around the old tips you may have a winner for virtually no money

You can also try and regularly cover the tips with wax (the same you use for the paint work) as that usually slows down corrosion a lot.

Stainless still corrodes, just a lot slower. The higher the quality (and depending on the type of stainless as there is a wide range with different resistance to the various types of corrosion) the better it resists corrosion but also the more expensive it gets. Anyway, some food for thought.

Lastly, you could try a bespoke exhaust type company and ask them if they can make you two new tips for not too much money. If you have a place with nice people working, they will undoubtedly do so if they have time. MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

There was another thread recently on this I believe. Someone came up with reasonably priced OE exhaust tips.
Mine have been super maintained since new. I polish them maybe twice a year, takes me 10 minutes.

Hey ebajema

I have to say I am amazed how how much effort you have put into your last post and all I can say is a huge thank you

Hahahahaha, you are like me, my Dremel was lying around forever before I used it the first time.

Good luck with finding nice tips and getting the box painted. Am keen to see how things turn out !!! MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

Muttley wrote:

But I really do like the sound of having some stainless tubes put over the old ones because ( now I may be wrong ) it would make them look like new and I think this is the way I am going to go , thats if I can find a company that can do what I want without costing me a fortune I haven't got.

Custom Chrome of Nuneaton made me several exhaust parts including a full custom stainless system. If you tell them what you want they will make it and they even have a rolling machine to flare the end so it looks like factory fit. It will also come polished to a mirror finish.

Ranging from the acceptable to the ghastly here http://www.rockshore.uk.com/exhaust-tips-147-c.asp 2008 MY Supercharged
Rimini Red / Jet
four zone climate
remote park heater
and no ugly kid windows.
magnus satis quod turpis satis

Dave,

Those tips are very salvagable. I have polished many an exhaust tip and they are not the worst I have seen.

All of the hints and tips on here are what I would do, Mr Muscle oven cleaner, degreaser and a few goes with Autosol. You'd be amazed how much comes back.

Having said that, when I bough the SC the tips were actually corroded and had clearly not been polished once in the car's 40,000 miles and 3 yrs of life. I asked the dealer to replace the tips and they said it wasn't possible without replacing the entire back box, which they did!

If you were nearer, I would come and do it for you, just cos I love seeing the results!  Discovery 4 HSE
1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF
1982 Series 3 Hard Top

*Gone:L462 D5 HSE LUX, L663 Defender 110 HSE, Discovery 3 HSE, 2014MY Range Rover Sport 5.0 Supercharged AB Dynamic; L405 Exec Vogue SE 4.4, 5.0 Supercharged Autobiography, Defender TDCi XS CSW, Defender TD5 HT, Vogue SE TDV8, Vogue TD6, RRSport SC 4.2V8, Classic 3.9 Vogue Auto, Land Rover Series 3 SWB

+1

Amazon sell the #oooo ultra fine steel wool for £6 . Get a new tube of Autosol.
Take stuff down to one of those drive in car wash places and I reckon for a price they would do them for you. ?
You haven't got any young lads as neighbours you could ask? Do kids still go knocking on doors to wash cars at weekends? That's how i earned cash as a youngster..
Probably not ... Alcohol and eBay is never a good mix

2006 4.2 Supercharged, Java Black