Note: Stainless Means Stain-Less, Not Stainproof

[BlackDeuceCoupe]

I rotated my tires today, cleaned the wheels, glossed the sidewalls and all that sort of stuff. While I had my ride on jacks, I thought I'd better crawl underneath and check my 4-month old stainless steel Tenzo R exhaust. Good thing I did. It had some stains, corrosion and rust spots already. A thorough wipe-down with a damp rag, followed by some Brasso and an application of WD-40 brought it back to its original appearance.

I'm sure everyone knows this, but in case you don't, stainless steel is the generic name for a number of different steels used primarily for corrosion resistance. The one key element they all share is a certain minimum percentage [by mass] of chromium, usually around 10%. Although other elements, particularly nickel and molybdenum are added to improve corrosion resistance, chromium is always the deciding factor.

Only metals such as gold and platinum are found in nature, in pure form. All other 'normal' metals exist in nature combined with other elements. Rust and corrosion is, therefore, a natural phenomena, as nature seeks to combine together elements which man has produced in a pure form for his own use.

Originally, stainless steel was called 'rustless steel'. 'Corrosion resisting' steel would be really the better term, as ordinary stainless steels do suffer from corrosion and rust in the long term in hostile environments.

While mirror-finished stainless steel exhaust systems look great, remember; they DO stain, corrode and rust. If you want to keep them looking nice, they'll need a little attention every once in a while. Brasso and WD-40 is what I use. How about you???