Polishing Dynomax 17733 Super Turbo Mufflers

This job would be a lot easier with far better results had I done it before I had the mufflers installed. Alas, the idea did not cross my mind until recently.

I had a muffler shop replace the gigantic original mufflers with a pair of Dynomax 17733 Super Turbo mufflers, which were recommended by several people in online forums.

Above: Dynomax mufflers sound great and are affordable.

The Dynomax mufflers are smaller and thinner than the originals, and the shop that did the installation also installed a true 2.5-inch dual exhaust. I posted a detailed article when I had this done back in 2016.


Above: The original (and gigantic) mufflers.

Above: The new exhaust tips are better positioned now.
My Corvette sounded better with the new dual exhaust, however, a few months later I had the same shop add a crossover pipe to eliminate an annoying drone that occurred between 1500 and 2000 RPM. (Click here for that article).

Above: A crossover pipe was required to eliminate the low RPM drone.
The mufflers looked great when new, but 5 years later they had turned a dull shade of gray and I wanted to see if I could bring them back to life by polishing them.

So I rolled the rear end of my Corvette onto my Rhino Ramps and went to work.



First, I tried hand polishing, but that got old very quickly so I decided to use a 3-inch drill polishing attachment which worked great. Frankly, if you want awesome results, you're better off using an electric or pneumatic polisher, but I did not have either. However, the battery-powered drill helped a lot.


As the following photos show, the results were satisfactory considering the limited tools available and the short time I spent polishing. In the future, I may redo this job with better equipment, but for now, this is a huge improvement.







Once both mufflers were polished (at least the portions I was able to reach), I gave them a good coat of hydrophobic wax to add a layer of protection.

My plan is to keep polishing them every once in a while to keep them looking great.


UPDATE

I started writing this article on November 22, 2020, and other than a post to my76vette Instagram account, the article has been sitting on a digital shelf.

A few days ago, I stopped by the local Harbor Freight Tools store and bought a metal polishing kit consisting of two drill buffing wheels and two polishing compound bars. One red, one white.

Fortunately, my Vette was up on the QuickJacks so I had the perfect opportunity to give them a second buffing with the new HFT kit, and these are photos of the results.








My plan is to continue polishing them from time to time. This not only makes them look great but it also helps protect them.

I will also detail the exhaust pipes next time I put the car on the QuickJack lift. I don't plan to go crazy polishing them but I want to clean them and protect the weld areas that show surface corrosion.

Unfortunately, most exhaust systems, especially old ones, tend to rust from the inside out due to condensation. But I hope that the newer 2.5" steel pipes installed in my Corvette are of better quality than those of the 1970s.

Thank you for following my '76 Vette Blog!



Product Links... (#sponsored)

• Rhino Ramps (12,000 pounds)
• Benavvy Polishing Pad Kit. Drill, Polisher, etc. 3- and 5-inch.