Hey folks - the exhaust tips on my 997.2 are straight-up black. Not a speck of metal shines through the soot. I've tried rubbing them down every time I wash them but it barely helps. Is there any hope for being able to restore them to their stainless steel glory or will I have to replace them (hopefully not). Unfortunately, I don't think the previous owner ever had them cleaned. Any tips on how to clean these bad boys would be much appreciated ...

 

Metal polish, neverdull, or #0000 steelwool. Take your pick.

 

mine weren't that bad but I pulled them off and polished them. Looked great for a month or so.

 

Thanks - I think I'll try the nevrdull and the steel-wool combo tonight. Hopefully they will look nice again!

 

u can also try Scratch X by Meguiar or intensive polish by Menzerna..

 

Are these more applicable to paint than metal or can they go both ways?

 

I know you said you don't want to replace your tips, but that was my solution. I really like the look of the AWE black chrome tips on my black 4S - easy to clean - look great - beefier than stock. I'm assuming you have a DFI car.

 

Yea, I saw those on Suncoast. They look great, but just don't want to spend a lot of $. If can get away with cleaning my existing tips, that would be best. My fall back plan would be to replace them. I do have a DFI motor ... how does that affect the tips?

 

The DFI motors output more 'soot' which accumulates on the tips. The pre-dfi engines didn't do this as badly, from what I understand.

 

Very interesting and good to know! Come to think of it, my 997.1S didn't produce nearly as ugly exhaust tips!

 

I've seen no difference between M97 engine tips and 9A1 engine tips. This is my experience too with previous 996 cars. I find the brushed stainless-steel tips very easy to maintain. Just wipe them weekly with a stainless cleaner or a 3M polishing pad.

 

A suggestion...have your existing tips ceramic coated matt black. Yes, they do been some cleaning, but less often than your current tips. And the look is outstanding. As far as costs, I only spent $40 for both of tips.

I have heard some pcar owners used high temp spray to paint the tips. It is not recommended to powder coat the tips as they will not last long because of the heat from the exhaust.

Good luck,

 

Wow, not a bad idea at all. Would look nice against my black paint as well. Can you recommend a place that does this?

 

You are sort of lucky if you are not far from Eldersburg. The name of the shop is Maryland Performance Coating (MPC) at 5360 C Enterprise St. It is a one man shop so call Jeff Gosnell @ 410.549.6122. If you leave them at the shop it make take five days as he does coating in batches. I did pay $40 about three years ago, but things may have changed.

If it's too far or inconvenient to drop them off, try mailing them.

Good luck

 

Fantastic - I'm going to give it a crack tonight and if I'm not successful I'll give him a call! Thanks!