Hey, Ive started to Polish the head. I stopped at 320 grit wet sanded and then I steel wooled it. Someone told me that mothers metal polish works great on this...... anyone ever try it?

Pictures

Pictures dont do it proper justice...

 

Hate to break it to you but that's your valve cover. Try a small spot with some 3m rubbing compound. The follow up with the mothers or some other alum polish. I hope you aren't doing this by hand

 

now do the intake manifold...

 

Keep going with the sandpaper, make that b**ch mirror finish

 

You'll be doing that forever. I gave up and painted it semi-gloss black. Yes, Mothers Mag Aluminum Polish will make that bling if you sand it enough. The IM is even more impossible.

 

If you want a mirror finish you have to work from about the 300 range up to almost 2000.. This will keep on making the scratches made by the sandpaper smaller and smaller. Then you want to come in with a polishing wheel and some agressive polishing compound and then work up to Mothers Polish.. hopefully then you will have a mirror finish. I am at about 1500 grit and should be able to finish that up this winter break and get it looking really good.

 

lol, you might as well be saying... well you start now, and finish by the time you sell the car... and hopefully then it'll be where you want it...

j/k... keep at it...

 

IMHO I think this is incorrect. Reason. When you go all the way up to 2000 grit then to some aggressive polishing stuff (ie.. rubbing compound) you are actually going back down to something less than 2000 grit. It's much easier to stop at maybe a 600 grit and use rubbing compound and a machine and work up. Or else you will be sanding for an eternity. I'm not saying your method won't work. It should work very well. Just very time consuming IMHO

 

Put some more elbow grease into it. And yes use Mothers, it will take a while, but it's worth it:

 

my gosh thats beautiful! it looks to be made out of cheap silver its so shiny! lol

 

You still have a long way to go. You need polishing compound like Tripoli and a buffing wheel. It takes alot of heat to remove material.

 

Looks good.
Hey 1MAX2NV how did u get ur intake manifold so shiny?

 

what tool would you guys recommend when trying to polish it up like above?

is there anything in the stickies about all of this?

 

seriously, someone needs to make a lil writeup or something lol for the noobs like me when it comes to sanding stuff down..

 

Some initial pics of my project
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=275563
After. Not professional but not bad for diy and all the damned crevices

 

Professionally done. You can't pay me enough to do that by hand. Air tools and power tools are needed to get it that shiny.

 

The pieces should be removed from the vehicle to actually be done right.

 

How much was it for the intake plenum and the valve covers?

I was planning later on to just snag one at the bone yard and have it done so I dont have to take anything apart until im ready to swap them... I already took the plenum off once.. What a mission

 

1MAX2NV: is that sanded/polished or chromed?

 

lol why u got a cone filter hooked up to the engine instead of the tube??

 

WOW.... I was looking at the intake manifold I couldnt imagine doing that by hand. it might have to just get a shine with a dremel heh....
and my bad, I was in a rush off to school..I wasnt thinking when I put the head..Close enough :/

That little cone is a breather... My friend jacked one from Autozone and then didnt want it, so i figured what the heII and tossed it on there. Goes with the blue scheme. Has no performance purposes what so ever... actually to tell you the truth, its properly worse cause its closer to the heat of the engine. Unless it gets some cooler air from the back wind of the radiator fans...

 

do you have any pics of yours painted black? I would like to see that!

If you really want a polished valve cover people sell them on the org. Ive seen them b4. I started on mine and i rubbed most of my finger tips off lol it looks much better then it did with all the oxidation on it but still not mirror shine,

 

It's polished.

 

There is no easy way to polish anything. It's a PITA, power tools or not...although tools make a little less of a PITA. I started polishing my motorcycle wheels last winter, and eventually gave up and painted em before my arm fell off. If you have the patience and time, it's worth it tho. Just be aware before you start that its a long and arduous process.

 

I started a similar thread a little while ago...I got started by my self...I have air tools and all the stuff to do it with......to sum it up its not worth your time unless you know exactly how to do it....I realized I was in over my head with about 6 hrs. on it...so I sent it off to a local guy to have it done. I am much happier now...I'll post pics soon

 

would you be kind enough and briefly go through the steps to accomplish something like that?

 

I polished my MEVI manifold before installing it on the car. Took me over a month during my freetime to get it to this state. I only concentrated on the top part on the intake runners. I did it by sanding manually by hand and finished it with a air buffing tool.


But I think it goes unnoticed with the rest of the engine polished parts i have in my car. Look, it's hardly noticeable with the FSTB installed.

Eric

 

MMMMMMM
mevi

 

dam im trying to sand my down, i used a 100 grit and it seems good so far