question for those that have some experience polishing aluminum. What can I use to sand all of the hard to reach places on things such as th lower intake manifold (the valleys formed by the runners)?
polishing the lower intake manifold....
- Thread starter rakkasan
- Start date
Do you have a local place that does ceramic coating Mark?
If so they'll have a vibratory polisher that they can drop it in and polish all of the nooks and cranies for a small fee!
If so they'll have a vibratory polisher that they can drop it in and polish all of the nooks and cranies for a small fee!
that really sparks an interest with me considering there is a place that powder coats parts that is about 15 min away.... how much roughly do you think they would charge to do a few parts
Dunno but if the parts are spotlessly clean it should be much cheaper!
They just drop the parts in a big shaky bath full of a polishing media and it does it's own thing for a few hours and the part comes out shiny!
(Think the Blingy finish on Ceramic coated headers it starts off really dull when they come out of the oven)
They just drop the parts in a big shaky bath full of a polishing media and it does it's own thing for a few hours and the part comes out shiny!
(Think the Blingy finish on Ceramic coated headers it starts off really dull when they come out of the oven)
IJ my exhaust mani is getting ceramic coated.
BTW the best way to polish it urself is to buy those muilt sanding tools. Its used with an electric drill. Its a round thing with alot of mini sand paper sqaures on it. That gets the nooks well. Then you go over with 320-1500 wetsand. Then goto sears and get a polishing kit to use with the drill.
Its like 9.99. It has 3 buffing wheels in it along with polishing rouge. Use the red rouge first then switch wheels and use the white afterwards. Looks like a mirror afterwards!
BTW the best way to polish it urself is to buy those muilt sanding tools. Its used with an electric drill. Its a round thing with alot of mini sand paper sqaures on it. That gets the nooks well. Then you go over with 320-1500 wetsand. Then goto sears and get a polishing kit to use with the drill.
Its like 9.99. It has 3 buffing wheels in it along with polishing rouge. Use the red rouge first then switch wheels and use the white afterwards. Looks like a mirror afterwards!
suprarich said:
Such as a bead blaster? I have access to a nice bead blaster, but I don't think the guy wants to change the media.
Mark: It will poish them 
Might take the sharp edges off, I'm lazy and there's no way I would spend the time hand polishing an intake as there are so many hard to do spots.
Once it's done be sure to clear coat it or you'll be a Mk3 Polishing slave for ever!
Might take the sharp edges off, I'm lazy and there's no way I would spend the time hand polishing an intake as there are so many hard to do spots.
Once it's done be sure to clear coat it or you'll be a Mk3 Polishing slave for ever!
IJ. said:
That's my next question, what to use to protect it. Standard clearcoat? I wouldn't think that it would adhere to polished aluminum.
You'd need to wash it well in MEK or Thinners then Clear it but it will yellow with age......
Starting to understand my "Black is Beautiful" approach now ?
Starting to understand my "Black is Beautiful" approach now ?
IJ. said:
How long time will it take to yellow?
I have just finished polishing my stock intake manifold. It was a total crap job and I'm never ever going to do that again.
I have considered clear coating it but people keep telling me it'll look bad shortly. What do you think?
what i've found polishing my wheels. using a flap wheel first, then a nylon brush thing. both are used with a drill. keep using the nylon thing until it starts to get shiny. you will start to see your reflection in it. then apply some mag wheel polish, i forget what i used... and sand the part with the polish on it. then use a rag to wipe off all the polish. it works wonders. there are a lot of fine scratches left begind, just time will take those out.
that nylon brush will also get in the hard places. there is a foam pad that you can buy to wrap sand paper around, it forms well in the tight places.
here's the link that helped me out.
http://www.poleringsguide.se/english/
that nylon brush will also get in the hard places. there is a foam pad that you can buy to wrap sand paper around, it forms well in the tight places.
here's the link that helped me out.
http://www.poleringsguide.se/english/
Im not adding to this topic, as my polished parts havent yellowed yet after over a year and a half, thanks again Rak!, but I wanted to say +1 for using the search feature!!!Kristian_Wraae said:
Reign_Maker said:Im not adding to this topic, as my polished parts havent yellowed yet after over a year and a half, thanks again Rak!, but I wanted to say +1 for using the search feature!!!
Thanks. One year and a half is good enough for me.
I chrome ceramic coat the lower runners for $60...that includes inside the runners. :naughty:
Once the ceramic is polished, it stays that way...just wipe down with a cleaner like 409 to keep it looking like new.
Once the ceramic is polished, it stays that way...just wipe down with a cleaner like 409 to keep it looking like new.
IJ. said:Starting to understand my "Black is Beautiful" approach now ?
You're not the only one.
I don't have much experience getting into the tight areas but I thought i'd show you this incase it helps.
I did a write up on celicasupra.com on how to refinish p-type wheels.
http://forums.celicasupra.com/showthread.php?t=13251
I did a write up on celicasupra.com on how to refinish p-type wheels.
http://forums.celicasupra.com/showthread.php?t=13251