Header Discoloration

[Southpaw50_imp]

I got delivery of the Optiglanz yesterday, took one week exactly. I read the instructions included in the package, and did the best I could to follow them, with favorable but mixed results. They said to spray it on the headers, and leave on for 1-3 minutes, but to rinse off any other parts that got overspray immediately. (With a hot water jet - where would I get that?) Can't imagine how it was even possible to rinse that selectively... Anyway, the product took off most of the stains pretty quickly, so I hosed it all down right away. The remaining spots came off after about 10 minutes of rubdown with Mother's, and now the headers look pretty good. Admittedly, mine were pretty far gone...

On the down side, the Optiglanz discolored the engine mount collars with milky white spots. They are right there by the headers - awful tough to ensure no product got on them. Not a huge big deal, but I don't like it and may repaint or replace them. Thank goodness it didn't harm the engine or frame paint or whatever!

Overall, works as advertised, but be careful with the stuff! Maybe dabbing it on with a sponge would be safer? Not sure if I'll use it again, I'd worry about messing up something else.

When applying Optiglanz, I use rubber gloves and place a piece of cardboard (12 pack beer container works nicely) between the pipes and the frame. Spray it on and then use a sponge to move it up to the area where the pipes are bolted to the head. Leave it on two minutes and rinse with cold water. No muss, no fuss, no mess, no stains.

Also, when I received my Staintune muffler, the brochure included with the muffler contained some great tips for polishing stainless steel. If you use Simichrome, Mother's, Blue-job, Meguir's or whatever brand, they highly recommend washing the pipes with a mild carwash soap and water immediately following the polish job. Given the high heat nature of an exhaust system, often times the chemicals in the polish create the golden brown color. Works for me!