plastic on exhaust

[etaubenn]

Previous owner told me he ran over some bubble wrap...scraped off what he could and shouldn't be too bad. Unfortunately I didn't look at it closer before signing the dotted line. It's pretty bad. There's not really a good way to get to it so I'm assuming it's going to have to go on a lift to get taken care of.

That being said, anyone know what can be done, if anything, to get melted-now glued- on plastic off pipes?
Luckily the stench isn't soaking into the interior...yet.


Thanks!

 

[etaubenn]

Posted in keeping it clean....but I don't think too many ppl check that out..

Owner told me just as I was buying the car that he ran over some bubble wrap.
I didn't notice it at first, but really looking at it, there's a ton of plastic melted(now glued) to it. Luckily the smell hasn't soaked into the interior yet, but a definite nasty smell after driving for a lil while.
I'm sure I'm going to have to get it on a lift and remove the exhaust...any suggestions??

Thanks!

 

[Incredible Mr. E]

I had the same thing happen to me - it was one of those thick mil plastic bags that you buy ice in. It ended up baking on pretty good as I could not get to it right away. I used a palm sander with very fine grit sand paper after scraping as much as I could with a razor blade (used a tool that you can fit a razor blade into like a gasket scraper). What I couldn't reach with the sander I did by hand. It actually came out really nice as compared to the rest of the exhaust system - my exhaust system is stainless steel. You might look at some chemicals to remove it but I was tried of smelling the plastic and resorted to the elbow grease method.

Good luck!

 

[A Flash of Red]

A week after I had my Kooks Longtubes and catted x-pipe installed I ran over a large sheet of that heavy plastic wrap that's used in construction. It blew into the road right in front of me and I couldn't avoid it. Stank like hell for awhile. The rep at Kooks said that it would not harm the exhaust and if I really didn't want to wait for it to burn off I could get under there, when the car is cool of course, with some kerosene and it should come off with a little elbow grease. I'm a lazy bastard, so I let it burn off.

 

[JeremyH]

+1. Let mine burn off. Takes a week or two. Tech.....?

 

[Marc s]

A plastic 1 gallon milk jug blew out of a truck in front of my car. I ran over it and it wedged in front of my Prochamber. It took a couple of weeks for the smell to go away.

 

[rxpwhistler1]

?

If something like goo-gone doesn't lift it up a bit, I may consider trying to use a heat gun to warm it up, then wipe it off with a puddy knife or towel. Then all you would have it a bit of residule, which, should come off with goo-gone or 3M tape remover?

Not an expert, but that's prob what I would try

 

[NastyStang113]

Maybe try to get it up in the air and hit it with the pressure washer.

 

[06silverbullet]

steel wool or other metallica wools will get it off adn polsih it back up to a nice sheen

 

[waketek516]

+whatever # I am

I ran over a heavy duty black garbage bag... smelled for about a week, but eventually burned off.

 

[frank s]

You can accelerate the burn-off process by driving a few miles at high revs and low speed (like second gear and 3500+rpm), thereby reducing the cooling effect of passing through high volumes of fresh air. Works good for curing hi-temp exhaust paint, as well.

 

[JeremyH]

You can accelerate the burn-off process by driving a few miles at high revs and low speed (like second gear and 3500+rpm), thereby reducing the cooling effect of passing through high volumes of fresh air. Works good for curing hi-temp exhaust paint, as well.

Awesome answer!

Tech thread of the day for sure!

 

[stkjock]

Threads merged and in correct section. Please don't dupe threads and post appropriately.

 

[bullitt 736]

Wire brush...

That should get most if not all. Don't ask how I know.

 

[etaubenn]

Thanks everyone. Posted in tech cause I wasn't too sure many people would see it...

I think after trying to kill a trans am today...mighta burned some off! He didn't wanna play.

I think I'll just let it burn off. Sounds like it won't last too long. And I don't have a lift. ;-)