Total Exhaustion

By any measure, it had already been a great day. We got our girl running and learned plenty in the process. Anything else would just be icing on the cake. Since we only had a few hours left to work, we decided to take off the exhaust and see what we could to to get that cleaned up.

Although it looked pretty rusty, there weren't any holes. A wire brush, some sand paper, a little elbow and this thing should clean right up... Our first step was to head over to the local ACE Hardware for some supplies. While we were there, we picked up a small wire brush bit for the drill. The idea was to use it for the really rusty parts. The next item was a can of Rustoleum High Heat Spray. This stuff in generally for use of BBQ Grills so we're hoping it will hold up to the heat of the exhaust.

Once we got back to the garage, the work began. Although the bit we bought for the drill worked pretty well, it was just a little too small to cover the surface area we needed. We used it to get as much of the rust and old paint as we could before the drill battery died. After that, it all came down to sandpaper and elbow grease.

If you ask me, it was worth it. There was some pitting in a couple areas due to the rust, but we figured a couple coats of paint and no one would notice. So we gave it a quick wash and here's what we were left with...At this point we got some rope, hung the exhaust from the garage door and started painting. After a couple of coats, here's what we were left with. We were really pleased with the mat look of the paint. We're planning on doing a gloss black for the body so it should be a nice contrast. Hopefully the High Heat Spray paint will hold up for a while. The work it took was, in a word, "exhausting," but the results make my shoulder hurt a little less.

Thanks for reading!
-Jason