Downpipe Refurbishment

[Yamazer-92]

This is one for all of the bored masochists out there. Last weekend I got my old down pipes off nice and easy. They have been blowing for some time so I bit the bullet and got some stainless motads but when they arrived for some reason I just wasn't really that impressed. So I set about refurbing my originals and have left the stainless in my room for now. I took the original pipes to a local garage to get the worst bit welded up which he has done a really good job of and it didn't cost much at all. I then today set about the task of prepping the down pipes for painting:

1. First I washed them off thoroughly using a pressure washer. Not normally advised but fine as they weren't on the bike, was powerful enough to take a small amount of the paint off.
   
2. Sprayed on some muc-off degreaser and let it set for a few minutes, then brushed it in with a stiff brush.
   
3. Rinsed off the residue with the pressure washer and left to dry.
   
4. Used 80 grit aluminium oxide paper that I got from Halfords and cut it into 8 A5 strips, then sanded like a furious ape for about 2-3 hours.
   
5. Halfway through I flipped the pipes over and degreased and pressure washed them again.
   
6. More sanding
   
7. I then went over the worst bits with a wire brush drill attachment, this created a few more holes but I will take the pipes back down to the garage to be re welded in those areas. At least I exposed them now so that they can be reinforced before putting them on the bike as weak as they were and having them become holes in no time.
   

All in all it was quite an effort and took a fair few hours of hard work to complete but I feel like it was definitely worth it. I will put up some photos when they are completed after they have been welded and I've finished painting them.


Here is the aluminium oxide paper I used. It comes in 4 A4 sheets which I cut in half. I ended up using it all and just about had enough.
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/store...ogId=10151


Here are some pics, they look better in the flesh and you can't really see how smooth they are now but it is a huge improvement on what they were like before believe me.