Cleaned & M105ed My Dual Exhaust

[WetBlackRanger[22s]]

My exhaust tips had developed some significant swirl marks/marring over the past few years and I wanted to try to correct the problem. Here's what I did.

Removed grime/dirt with degreaser
Cleaned hard grit off with 0000 steel wool
Polished w/Mother's aluminum polish by hand (yielded little effect)
Polished w/M105 on white polishing pad on PC7424 at speed 5 (WOW!)
Waxed the tips w/Pinnacle Liquid Souveran

Before of driver side after degreasing (I didn't take befores of passenger):
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d87/Balt9mm/LuxuryMobileAutoDetailing256.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d87/Balt9mm/LuxuryMobileAutoDetailing257.jpg
AFTER polishing w/M105:
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d87/Balt9mm/LuxuryMobileAutoDetailing259.jpg
Question: Do you guys think I should make a pass on the tips w/M205?? Should i get one of those small drill bit pads? b/c using the PC limits where I could actually polish.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d87/Balt9mm/LuxuryMobileAutoDetailing262.jpg
Waxed w/PLS:
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d87/Balt9mm/LuxuryMobileAutoDetailing264.jpg
AFTER wax removal:
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d87/Balt9mm/LuxuryMobileAutoDetailing270Edit.jpg
Also wanted to show how awesome ONR is for cleaning my rims:
Before:
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d87/Balt9mm/LuxuryMobileAutoDetailing265.jpg
Soak w/5-1 ONR/water mix
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d87/Balt9mm/LuxuryMobileAutoDetailing267.jpg
After wiping initial grime w/shop towel and drying clean w/microfiber:
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d87/Balt9mm/LuxuryMobileAutoDetailing268.jpg

I was very pleased with the way the exhaust turned out, looks great. Sometimes I just clean my chrome if I can't find time (or effort lol) for a wash.

[LuxuryMobile]

Looking good, and you gotta love some ONR

[Meghan]

What size pads did you use on the exhaust, looks like tight area to work in? Came out great though.

[nrengle]

You are gonna get some flak for using shop towels on your wheels buddy! LOL. Onr is awesome though! Love the stuff!

[WetBlackRanger[22s]]

What size pads did you use on the exhaust, looks like tight area to work in? Came out great though.

I used one of the 7" white polishing pads that I got for free at detail fest this year. A lot bigger than I would like to have used but it worked. Any other pad suggestions, like one of those small 3" to 4" drill bit pads?

[WetBlackRanger[22s]]

You are gonna get some flak for using shop towels on your wheels buddy! LOL. Onr is awesome though! Love the stuff!

Yeah believe me I figured. GENTLY used the shop towels (soft ones) just to lightly remove the thickest layer of dirt/grit, I can't just use my microfibers to clean that grime (maybe if I was made of micros I could). The rims were NXT Tech Waxed about a week ago, coupled with the dirt grabbing technology of ONR, the method is pretty safe. Normally I strictly wash the rims w/car soap & water w/sponge.

[ScottB]

Do you feel the polishes or the steel wool offered more in this equation ?? Do you feel you would have had the same results using a metal polish like Simichrome with steel wool ??

[ASPHALT ROCKET]

Do you feel the polishes or the steel wool offered more in this equation ?? Do you feel you would have had the same results using a metal polish like Simichrome with steel wool ??

I am also curious to the answer.

[67Customs]

Looks good man.

[WetBlackRanger[22s]]

Do you feel the polishes or the steel wool offered more in this equation ?? Do you feel you would have had the same results using a metal polish like Simichrome with steel wool ??

Yeah maybe, as long as the chrome polish had swirl removing properties and you work it in with some type of machine. I know i couldn't achieve these same results by hand. The swirls were deep. The steel wool mainly helped to break loose hard grit stuck to the pipes and clean the area were the weld meets the tip. These tips probably had to be polished differently b/c they're not like pure aluminum tips EX: 350-Z tips etc.

[Birdhunter]

Nice work:cheers:

[Dsoto87]

Are you guys asking about the swirl removing power of m105 or just a comparison to other metal polishes?

M105 is definitely capable of removing swirls from chrome with ease.

My chrome trim had a ton of swirls. It annoyed me to no end.
I tried m105 with a white pad on the pc. In one set it took out between 90%-95% of all swirling. I was content with this since I don't want to thin out the chrome too much.

All that was left was deeper swirls that I'm sure could have been removed if I did a few more sets or stepped it up to an orange pad.

I haveent tried the simichrome so I can't comment on a comparison but I will say that m105 cuts with ease on chrome.

[Superior_Details]

ONR?
im lost

[WetBlackRanger[22s]]

ONR?
im lost

ONR = Optimum No Rinse, waterless car wash & shine. No Rinse Wash & Shine’s advanced polymers and lubricants offer more surface protection and slickness than ordinary car soap alone. It acts as a water softener and conditioner to improve the quality of the water that touches your vehicle to provide the ultimate safe wash. (look it up in AG's store)

[ScottB]

M105 is quite abrasive as a polish and is designed for paint specifically, so I wondered just how much work the polish did. It seems more abrasive than most metal polishes when feeling between my fingers but inscientific at best.

Adding steel wool, even the finest available, is certainly abrasive and often suggested for heavy metal polishing in the past before 105 was even made. So I also wondered if steel wool was the defining power and polish was simply the lubrication.

It appears you liked both together and felt it was a win-win combo. I just wonder if I could get the same results using the same steel wool with just a metal polish like simichrome. Or could I get the same results using M105 with a wool polishing tip for instances ?? Any thoughts are appreciated.