I just hooked it back up to the engine.. took awhile, but I think it looks pretty good. Homedepot no longer carries 600grit, and they don't seem to make anything better than 280grit for the dremel...

 

looks nice!

 

Looks good.

 

Looks good! What grit did you use?

 

Started with 60-120- these little foamy sand paper wheels which went 160/180 and 230grit, and finally, I could only use 400 by hand... so I only got most of the top it's alot shinier, but it isn't perfect mirror... if only I could find 600...

I have (to quote rap) "bling bling" (oh gosh....), but now I need (quoting mazda commercial) more "zoom zoom". :P

 

Thats a pretty good shine for 400 grit! I believe that Wal-Mart sells 2000 grit though

 

now you need to do the rest of the manifold since it looks dull now

good job though

 

nice, looks good

 

even 2000 grit wont get you that mirror finish , it will be almost mirror, but if you look closely you can still see itty bitty swirls Then again I'm picky, lol

 

Well, I also used mothers aluminum polish for my last step... really made it shine
CHeap stuff though ($4 Vs. $12 on), but it looked good. I skimmed a little on quality towards the bottom, and certain places I couldn't reach as well as I would have liked, but heck, unless someone looks at it very closely, and then at the very bottom, they won't be able to tell. I also didn't do the back... no point in it, and heck, you can't see it from any angle. Wasn't sure if I should polish the inside to where I could reach it.. someone said air turbulence is needed for low end torque - where I primarily stay. I did shine down some of the casting marks, becuase those obstruct air flow, and the wouldn't take much off the volume inside.
Thanks for the compliments

 

That's not your throttle body

 

that swhat i was thinking what do u call that the intake inlet right?

 

i wish i had the patience to do that.. impressive!

i have done 2 of my stock gxe wheels and i got fed up... and thats a flat surface!

BEFORE:


AFTER:


walka

 

Your wheels do look very good... I dunno, I might try a spare one I have sometime. I guess you would actually be able to use a rear sander for most of it, because using the dremel would take forever.... I'm very seriously considering grinding down the wheel cap area so that it is smooth going to the bolt pattern. heck, I bought an extra rim at a junk yard, it might be worth it. it might hurt it structually though, so I don't know if it's a great idea, but on the other hand, that would shave a good deal of weight off of each tire.... Seems like it might be worth it, assuming the rim doesn't split...

 

uhh, doomtoo.. thats a LOT of material to be sanding. i cant imagine that doing that would be good for the wheel's structural integrity either. my 2 cents.

walka