ATTN metal polishers out there...

Shift518 Automotive
1

While I have my motor out, I want to polish anything aluminum under the hood. While I am not a total noobie when it comes to polishing metal, I have done bike frames and parts and wheels… but I usually sand most of it by hand or the big flat surfaces with a 6"da.

My question is this, the intake manifold runners and corners are tight, and a da with sand paper wont cut it. The valve cover is cast and I need to remove alot of material to flaten out the surface. Doing this by hand is way the fuck out of the question. I need a tool. I have a nice 6" bench polisher, 2.5" & 4 inch wheels for my die grinder… but I dont have any good sanding tools/bits to do the hard part.

I found some greaseless abrasive compound (80 grit, 120 grit) that you apply to a wheel, which sounds liek the ticket. Has anyone used this stuff? Can it be bought local?

The other idea is small stone bits for a die grinder or even a dremel. Anyone ever see any flexable type of disks or anything that might do the job?

2

3m products . go to fastenal or air gas on old karner rd. thats were i get mine from.

3

i buy everything from schenectady autobody. very good people. fastenal has been ill-equipped for all kinds of stuff that i’ve needed personally, so i don’t really go there. i’ve always used various disks/ wheels on my drill/ dremel to get into the extra tight spots.

edit: some of the best work in polishing is actually done by hand. many times a machine will “hog out,” or “booger up” your work too often. take your time and you will get the best results.

4

I called the guys at SCH auto body. I will stop there on my ride home. I really want to try out the abrasive greasless stuff.

FN… ill take a pic of the valve cover… you wont have any finger tips left if you sanded this in 6 stages before you hit the polisher!

5

polishing aluminum SUCKS

6

i have done many pieces by hand actually. close to everything under the hood of my passat was polished when i had it.

i just recently did a set of 4 18x8"/ 18x9" bbs wheels for my 5 series, almost entirely by hand. these wheels were very bad. all curbed, bent, etc. this was 80 grit, all the way to 2000. the only thing i didn’t do by hand was apply the 3 layers of compound. everything else, by hand.

i’d be interested in seeing the pics man… shoot 'em on over :slight_smile:

7

I am going to order some of that shit and some buff wheels, and bobs from http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/buffing.htm

They also have a nice fourm there and they seem to use this stuff alot. I will soon see I guess.

8

yeah, i’ve spoken with someone at caswell before. def. a very knowledgeable group of people. heard lots of good things about them. i’d be interested to see how that works out.

9

thats why I had my shit chromed…no more cleaning!!!

10

zackly

11

I polish my shit all the time. well when the wife ain’t home. lol

12

wire wheel bit + drill

13

Umm no.

I ordered a shit ton of stuff from Caswell. They are like 3 hours away… so it should be here tue or so.

When you get something chromed, doesnt the surface have to be flawless too? Or does the process fill in the pits and deep scratches? Also, can you even chrome aluminum? I thought it had to be a ferrous metal.

14

for chrome they polish the HELL out of the surface, yes, but they also give it a soak in a copper or brass bath to fill in the small gaps as much as possible. chrome is the last thing that goes on it.

15

FN-SKANKS…

You have got to try this greasless abrasive shit! It is un-FN-believable.

Here is the scoop. It is like 8$ a tube. The tube is the same size as a big cookie dough plastic baggie tube you would get at a super market. Weights about a pound or so. Lots of material for 8$!

You use a spiral sewn buffing wheel, becasue it is stiffer and more agressive.

You apply this shit to the wheel and for about 1-2 seconds, just enough to get a nice thin, yet fully covered surface on the wheel. to open the bag untwist the top and cut a slit down one side, and roll it backwards to expose the compound like you would roll a rubber on your dick. Once you apply it to the wheel, roll it back up coversing as much of the unused compound and put it into a ziplock bag and squeeze as much of the air out as you can. you can refridgerate it too, but dont freeze it.

NOW the KEY… you have to let it dry. Put a hair drier on it for 2-3 minutes, the surface will turn rock hard. to the touch you are thinking it is like a fucking grinder wheel, and will rape your material. BUT it doesent! It will quickly and even with light pressure take alot of material down, depending on the grit you are using. I used the 80 stuff and within seconds the rough casting was gone and dead nuts flat!

One application on the wheel lasts about 5-10 minutes of cutting with light presure. Make sure you dont hit the sharp edges of your work or it will blast the stuff off your buffing wheel and you will have to re-apply.

You do have to rake out the wheel every 5 applications or so to start with a clean wheel again.

I started with a rough cast plenium on my intake manifold, and with in half an hour of the 80 grit, i bumped it to the 120 grit. 120 grit sounds rough, but it is nowhere as scratched up as 120 grit sand paper. Actually I would compair the 120 grit greasless compound to about a 320-400 grid paper.

I also got some solid felt buffing bobs, in differend shapes and sizes for my roto tool to get in tight spots. I bet I will never have to pic up a piece of sand paper to polish ANY of the pieces I want to do for my car!

BLOODY finger tips NOMORE!!!

Ill post some pics tonight.

16

please post as many as possible

17

I will, i gota stop by my car and see if i left the damn camera in it.

18

can you make an album on photobuckets and tag things in pics? then post a link here. i think some people might bitch that youre posting 50 pictures in here. i’d like to see how it worked out.

19

sounds like a good idea… maybe I can even make a nice process thread. Make it with clickable thumbnails and what not.

20

a “how to polish metal bits on your car” thread would have some approval stamps, for sure. we could use more “how to” threads with loads of photos and such.