lastnight there was a thread talking about how to polish your engine with the mirror look now its gone anyone know how to ( do it yourself?)

 

I use to use buffing compound that I applied with a cotton(I think) wheel attached to a drill. I could get things hella blinging.

 

yeah but the thread said something about sanding?

 

You got to make it smooth and remove any small imperfections. Use 400 grit first, then 1200. Then use the metal polish on the cotton thing on a drill and go at it. I just used straight up elbow-grease. This is only for the metal part above and below the spark plug cover.

 

it's all one part. it's the front valve cover. also, you can also polish up the rear vlave cover, timing chain cover, AC lines, a few other litle things in your bay. even bolt heads. oh, sorry. i'm dreaming about my plans for this winter.

 

Should someone start singing "It's beginning to look alot like Christmas" then? lolz

 

i may have to! the forecast for this saturday here in Bozeman, Montana, MSU, is 50% snow/rain/sleet.

 

lookin good mang, your gunna have to step up that SP cover now that the rest of the engine looks so good

 

can the manifold be polished or should I be slapped for even asking that?

 

Everything metal, can be polished. I'm just too lazy to get crackin. So I dropped some paint in the engine bay and left it at that.

 

Thanks To All Im Going Out Today To Get Started!!

 

Ok Update On The Engine: I Have Been Going At It For At Least An Hour And It Allready Looks Superb!! The Engine Now Looks Like A Fresh New Brushed Aluminum And When I Get The Metal Buffer I Think It Will Look Cromish..
My Motor All Ready Puts Off A Simi Reflection!!!! (220 Grit Starting)

 

i really want to do this but last time i tried it, it didnt come out right. maybe ill snap some pics and show you my progress.

 

good to hear, but lay off the Shift Key, O K???
but, yeah. when done right, it really looks nice.

 

ok now i have hooked up my electric sander and went to work on the intake manifold!!
really nice looking i need to know how to post pics to show all how nice this is coming out!

 

also the ruff textured look is slowly fadeing and coming out with a nice smooth look!

 

I did mine a while ago. I just did a little bit each day and it came out great. I dont have any good pictures of it yet though. But looking at A Flood99's I have a little more work to do. I started my intake manifold but never finished.

 

My manifold is polished...I paid someone to do it. I tried what you were doing and I had air tools, but I wanted it more shiney than I could get it. Goodluck. Sorry I do not have a pic hosted of it. Someone may have one from the DC area who has taken a pic of it at a meet.

 

My progress so far is on the 3rd reply to this thread (what do you think)?

 

here's some updated pics of my engine, the other ones were a little dated

worked on the manifold a little more and was able to paint the spark cover

 

looks good im going to polish mine up more tommarow
ceck the 3rd reply to this thread for my update

 

Keep in mind that when you polish aluminium it will oxidize over time unless you anodize it.

 

ohh, tell me more. i was not aware of any side effects. what precautions should be taken?

 

Well, whether you polish it or not, it will oxidize and become dull and bluish looking.

 

it wont oxidize if you keep it clean and wash it. and if some how it does which would be long down the road just re-sand it off

 

My point is that in order to keep Al. shiny, you need to "maintain" it. A quick polish every once in awhile would keep it shiny and remove oxidation.

 

Yeah but it doesn't oxidize after a long a$$ time. I use the same metal polish for my Army uniform and it lasts long. If anything, just put more metal polish on, you shouldn't have to re-sand it. I don't re-sand my stuff.

 

I would suspect that because of the heat, it would oxidize quicker. But like you said, if you just do a quick polish, maybe a couple times a year, you'll never need to re-sand it.

 

whats the best metal polish for the job?

 

you should sand it with 300, 400, 600, 800, 1000, then polish it. Mother's chrome wheel polish works good. Dremel or other rotary tool will be neccesary to get a mirror, chrome-like finish.

 

Mother's metal polish worked pretty damn good

the key is not to let it dry, apply to a small area and continue buffing it into the metal using several portions of the towel until you're left with just the metal

 

Go to Home Depot and grab a tube of MAAS. Best stuff ever. It comes out pink and when you buff it off it leaves a black mirror like finish.

 

what do you mean (black mirror)

 

There ya go fellas...

 

damm did you do that your self? if so how much time did you put into it what did you use>??

 

Yes myself...about 50 hrs. I used various sandpapers wet & dry up to 2000 grit. then I used abrasives in a 3 stage application. Product is called Dico Tripoli avail. at home depot.

 

Wow i like that shot of the car, it is moving or did you move the camra?

 

car was parked but I used a real nice digicam and played with the shutter speed a lil bit (thanks to Ludacris)

 

The MAAS works by filling in the little scratches we can't see with our eyes. It gives a dark shiny finish so it doesn't look like a chrome pipe that you find at the plumbing section at Home Depot.

 

i polshed mine all the way up to 2000 and it literally looks like a mirror. it took me about 8 hours to complete the valve cover tho. well worth it tho