Lessons Learned For Using Kreem Blue Protectant

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steve_wood
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Lessons Learned For Using Kreem Blue Protectant

#1

Post by steve_wood »

Just in case anybody is thinking about using this product, perhaps my "journey" will help you with yours.

I decided to use this product on my new pipes. I followed the directions carefully, but the first coat produced a terrible result: Half of the interior surface of the pipe was stained brown, a quarter of it was blue, and a quarter of it was completely bare. I started over, making some changes to the process, and was able to produce a successful result.

Observations:

1. Blue Protectant is water based. Exhaust pipes are steel.

Water+steel+time = RUST

It is this rust that turns the coating brown.

2. Brand new pipes are nowhere near as clean as they look. It is these hidden impurities that cause the coating not to stick.

Lessons Learned:

I started out by testing the interior of my pipes by swabbing with a paper shop cloth soaked in Acetone. It came out dirty. I bunched up shop cloth in a ball that was a tight fit in the pipe, soaked it with acetone, and pushed it through the pipe with an old fork spring. I repeated this until the cloth came out throughly clean.

After drying, I applied a coat per the directions, and hung it to dry. When I looked at it 8 hours later, most of the “blue” protectant was now brown and some of the steel was bare. This led to the above-mentioned observations.

I started from scratch. The protectant comes out easily with hot soapy water and a bottle-brush. I cleaned all the pipes rigorously with hot soapy water. I rinsed them with hot water and dried them to prevent rusting. Then I baked them in the oven at 350 degrees for an hour. Then I washed them again. Then I bead blasted the interior. Then I washed them again, rinsed and dried them quickly. Now they were ready for coating. (Okay, maybe the bead blasting was a bit obsessive, but if you can – do it.)

I followed the directions for coating them. Instead of hanging them to let the excess drip out, I took them outside and swung them with my arm windmill fashion. I learned that if you swing above shoulder height you wind up with blue protectant on your clothes and hair.

Once the excess was eliminated, I took them back into the shop and dried them carefully at low heat with a hair dryer. You have to be careful here; too much heat and the coating will crack like a dried-up mud pit. The key here is that the coating has to be dried before the water can react with the steel to form rust.

The result: A nice even blue coating everywhere. The coating was a bit thin, so I actually used three coats. Total end result was good in terms of visual inspection. However, at this point in time the pipes have not been installed so I don’t know how well the product will actually work.

Hope this helps! Let me know how your project works out!!

steve

PS: I tried phoning Kreem "Technical Support". Calls were never returned. Sounds like there's a guy who answers the phone, and the owner of the company and not much else. My guess is that it is a "lean" operation.
VintageTwin
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#2

Post by VintageTwin »

I learned that if you swing above shoulder height you wind up with blue protectant on your clothes and hair.
:lol: motorcycles :!: We should have our own Discovery Channel series about people that put these Panheads together as kits. 10 different people in 10 different parts of the world with 10 different problems, all working on the same, basic, 1949-1957 rigid frame KIT.
It could start out real nice, birds are singing outside, everything's bobbing along, music's playing...and then about an hour into it, things start not fitting together. Teeth gritting and angst - parts get sent back for return, only to get the same wrong parts sent back again.
We'll select one individual to be on a continual Ground Hog Day loop of sending parts back only to get the wrong parts returned to him, until in the final clip, he hangs himself from the garage rafters by his throttle cable.
The series would do well in England, where they enjoy watching evening "telly", of a billiards program, in which a player's composure is finally eroded, to the point that one of them will snap his cue into two pieces over the frustration of missing a shot.
Hubbard
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Re: Lessons Learned For Using Kreem Blue Protectant

#3

Post by Hubbard »

Hangin himself, thats rich lol. As for the pipes, I've always had real good results by doing this. On new pipes, clean 'em inside and get some 2000 degree header paint and spray inside several times letting them dry a little first. On the first start up, heat cycle them several times and make damn sure they are clean on the outside before starting. In 40 years I've never had blue or messed up chrome from heat. Store bought pipes or rechromed.
northeastconfederate
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Re: Lessons Learned For Using Kreem Blue Protectant

#4

Post by northeastconfederate »

HAHAHA! I've been looking through forum posts for some entertainment/ distraction from the election mania, AND FOUND IT! Especially the windmilling pipes and blue Kreem in hair and on clothes! 🤣🤣 Great post, keep it up!

I used this stuff on my stroker Ironhead's pipes. They turned yellowish near the heads but never blue.
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