SAVE THE CHROME? NEED HELP>>DONE--UPDATE AND PICS!

[woods]

Ah, now I see...well, I know I've got a ton of those if that won't come off.

[michael69]

You should be able to get it cleaned up pretty easy,but if not J&P cycles has the heat shields for drag pipes very reasonable.They are not harley OEM but fit and look just as good for half the price. Just remember HD stands for Hundred Dollars no matter how minor problem is

[Dan]

NOTE: I was wondering if you could use "Blue Job" on anondized aluminum grills like in my 67, the jar specifically states NOT to use it on basically ANYTHING other than good chrome (on steel). NO ALUMINUM etc.....FYI.

Ok, I fixed up the chrome thanks to all who posted advice here, I decided to try the "Blue Job" first and see how that worked.

If you haven't ever used it before (like me), it cost me $13 at a local Harley repair shop, and when I opened the jar there was so little powder in there I felt like I was buying something illegal!

So just something to be aware of for first time users! here's a pic of the chrome part removed from my bike, you should be able to see the micro-fiber pattern literally melted onto the chrome, and it's "3-dimensional", you can feel it stick up quite a ways....I messed this up good!

So I followed the Blue Job directions (and watched the video on YouTube they have), wet the provided rag and apply powder to it and make a thick paste. Then use all the elbow grease you have for about 1 solid hour...no joke, I scrubbed the crap out of this thing!

An hour or so later and 2/3 of the powder gone, it has indeed removed a lot of the melted fibers, but what remains is the thickest and most melted on material.

At this point I tried "goo-Gone" again, and some chrome cleaner that smells like thinner and neither one got me any further.
So I wrapped a thin old hammer handle (wood) in the Blue Job rag and kept going about another hour and almost all the powder gone, I also did a small amount of razor blade scraping and got to this finished product finally.

I took this camera angle (pic above) on purpose, you can still see an area where the chrome is foggy and has a pattern from the micro fibers still even though everything is smooth and particles removed now. I actually think I started to see the nickle/brass underplating at the end of the Blue Job rubbing so I stopped there!
But when the pipe is on the bike, I doubt anyone else will notice, compare this shot below to the one below it for a before/after :


It's not perfect, but that was my fault for melting a rag on a hot pipe in the first place. Thanks to everyone here for the advice, you guys saved me $200 bucks plus years of embarrasment on my bike and the wife rubbing it in for decades (co-owner of the bike). I'd say $13 and 2-3 hours of polishing chrome beats that anyday!

[billbates40]

Does that work to remove your kids shoe heel melted rubber on your exhaust?

I go for a ride and get the pipes hot then spray oven cleaner on and it is good to go. Clean up after it cools down.

[woods]

That works good too, but if you have any polished aluminum...keep it clear of that, it will etch it.