Project 12, aka The Blues Project, is back on the rack. After suffering a spill with its previous owner there's a bunch of cosmetic issues to deal with, including the Yoshimura slip-on muffler.
Here, I've begun smoothing the damage to the front edge of the aluminum muffler where it took quite a hit.
Here, I've begun smoothing the damage to the front edge of the aluminum muffler where it took quite a hit.
And here's a look at the rash suffered along the entire length of the muffler. The green tape is covering the Yoshimura badge to protect it during the next steps.
I begin with a heavy rasp to knock down the deep gouges. The blue on the file is chalk — rubbing chalk on the file keeps the aluminum filings from clogging the file. I'll follow with a finer file.
Switching to wet/dry sandpaper, I begin with 100-grit on the filed sections, and 400-grit on the scratches, then move progressively finer.
I'll end with 5000-grit which makes the final polishing a breeze.
Here, the final sanding shows a smooth but cloudy finish.
Aluminum polish applied by hand is all that's necessary to bring out the shine. The entire process took about an hour.
Ironically, I'd already repaired this same muffler two years ago when I first had The Blues Project in the shop. Good thing aluminum is so forgiving.
RSS Feed