Hand polishing my runners, any tips/tricks that you might know of??

[LeddZepp8687]

Like the title says, Ive got a spare intake that I have been dying to polish up. Ive got alot of felt wheels and a huge container of industrial grade aircraft remover which I KNOW will strip the paint off them. Is there any special polishing compounds that you would reccomend?? I know that SHOYA's intake was hand polished, but he bought a manifold polishing kit from some online store.

Anyone ever do this and care to share some secrets/experiences??

Thanks for any help!!

 

[excidere]

It takes a lot of work I did mine, sanded to 1000 and then hand buffed it using used 3m rubbing compound. I did cheat a little and use a di grinder with a scotchbrite pad on it to speed up the removal of the mold lines. But I wouldn't recommend it because an orbital sander gouges the metal and I think I spent more time removing the gouges then it would have taken me to hand sand off the cast lines ... good luck!

 

[Off Road SHO]

I went to a jewely making supply. They have all types of polishing compounds , specifically formulated for different metals. Get one for aluminum and one for steel. They also have the best cloth wheels. Get a quick change spindle for your bench grinder so you can change from an aluminum buffing wheel to a steel one easily. Otherwise you'll be tempted to use the steel wheel on aluminum.

The hard part of polishing in my opinion is visualizing what the part will look like after you polish it. You don't want to spend an hour polishing a part only to realize after that you should have sanded off this or that casting ridge.

A 3/4 HP grinder that spins at 1725 rpms works the best, the 3450's spin too fast IMO. Reverse the wheels when the nap gets to laying down in one direction too much.

Wear good gloves, polishing generates a lot of heat.

Tom

 

[SinisterSHO]

I paid someone. Alot.

 

[ManySHOs]

Wear a good filtration mask. You might go sterile and have black snot for awhile if you don't.

I did (hopefully just the latter) when I was grinding the castings off of my EH'ed runners. I finally bought a dual filtration mask and was amazed at how much aluminum dust gets trapped in the gauze pads before the filters. Before that, all of that crud was going into my lungs. Yay.

I would have the runners bead blasted before you start. It'll strip the paint and smooth out the surface of the aluminum. This makes polishing much easier. I tried the aircraft stripper. It worked but the runners were still pitted and a PITA to sand down. When I had it blasted, I was getting a mirror finish without too much work. Of course, I still decided to chrome powdercoat some of the stuff (idley pulley brackets, alternator case, etc) whereas I will powdercoat the runners candy blue.

Ian

 

[LeddZepp8687]

Wear a good filtration mask. You might go sterile and have black snot for awhile if you don't.

I did (hopefully just the latter) when I was grinding the castings off of my EH'ed runners. I finally bought a dual filtration mask and was amazed at how much aluminum dust gets trapped in the gauze pads before the filters. Before that, all of that crud was going into my lungs. Yay.

I would have the runners bead blasted before you start. It'll strip the paint and smooth out the surface of the aluminum. This makes polishing much easier. I tried the aircraft stripper. It worked but the runners were still pitted and a PITA to sand down. When I had it blasted, I was getting a mirror finish without too much work. Of course, I still decided to chrome powdercoat some of the stuff (idley pulley brackets, alternator case, etc) whereas I will powdercoat the runners candy blue.


Ian

Soo, you sand blasted yours??

Cause I have access to a sand blaster in my family owned machine shop... Should I just lightly blast the surface and then start polishing??

 

[ManySHOs]

Soo, you sand blasted yours??

Cause I have access to a sand blaster in my family owned machine shop... Should I just lightly blast the surface and then start polishing??

Well technically it was glass beading but yes. Glass isn't so ******* the material and should leave you with a nice smooth unpainted finish. Once you get it down to that, it doesn't take much to start polishing with excellent results. Of course it'll still take awhile but you are months ahead of just stripping or sanding down the paint and pitted/corroded surfaces.

In the end I gave up and powdercoated everything. It wasn't a big deal for me as blasting is part of the prep work involved in powdercoating.

Ian

 

[LeddZepp8687]

I decided I am just gonna use some stripper to remove the epoxy paint on the runners, then use some black emory polishing compund to remove any pitting and then step up to a white compound to get the mirror finish. I will also be using sandpaper to remove the casting imperfections, starting with 180 grit and ending at a with a wetsand using 400 grit. I think it will turn out very well, Pictures will be posted up when im done with it!!

Oh yea, and whats the best way to get the fuel rails too look shiny too?? I am not looking for a super chrome finish on them but I have read that many people who have either painted, chromed or polished thier runners always say they regret not doing something with the rails cause they looked dumb afterwards. Maybe just polish those by hand??

 

[Silver95]

I paid someone. Alot.

I really like that color combo, but if that black was a lil bit more shinier it would look sexy. Perhaps it was just a bit dirty? Is it powdercoated or rattle can'd?