POLISH OUT YOUR VALVE COVER & OTHER LINES
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,898
From: Philadelphia, PA
yeah, u know i was thinking about that but my max is my daily driver, and i'd rather not have it out of commission while waiting on the manifold... and don't particularly feel like driving all the way up to massachusetts.. can you just take the IM out and spraypaint it with some high temp silver paint and have it look the same as a polished IM?
^
If you want a quick answer. Not really.
Long answer-
It will look more like a dull aluminum. Or you can have it dipped in chrome after you sand at it.
But for paint, you always need a nice smooth surface (not dimpled like the IM) so if you are willing to sand it down. You might as well do it all the way
Oh and since you mentioned you couldn't wait to have the IM left off....you can do it little by little on the weekends or days off. That is what I did with mine. Took about 3 weekends to finish. Looks pretty good, and I left it in the engine bay while working on it, since mine is also the DD.
If you want a quick answer. Not really.
Long answer-
It will look more like a dull aluminum. Or you can have it dipped in chrome after you sand at it.
But for paint, you always need a nice smooth surface (not dimpled like the IM) so if you are willing to sand it down. You might as well do it all the way Oh and since you mentioned you couldn't wait to have the IM left off....you can do it little by little on the weekends or days off. That is what I did with mine. Took about 3 weekends to finish. Looks pretty good, and I left it in the engine bay while working on it, since mine is also the DD.
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,898
From: Philadelphia, PA
^
If you want a quick answer. Not really.
Long answer-
It will look more like a dull aluminum. Or you can have it dipped in chrome after you sand at it. But for paint, you always need a nice smooth surface (not dimpled like the IM) so if you are willing to sand it down. You might as well do it all the way
Oh and since you mentioned you couldn't wait to have the IM left off....you can do it little by little on the weekends or days off. That is what I did with mine. Took about 3 weekends to finish. Looks pretty good, and I left it in the engine bay while working on it, since mine is also the DD.
If you want a quick answer. Not really.
Long answer-
It will look more like a dull aluminum. Or you can have it dipped in chrome after you sand at it.
But for paint, you always need a nice smooth surface (not dimpled like the IM) so if you are willing to sand it down. You might as well do it all the way Oh and since you mentioned you couldn't wait to have the IM left off....you can do it little by little on the weekends or days off. That is what I did with mine. Took about 3 weekends to finish. Looks pretty good, and I left it in the engine bay while working on it, since mine is also the DD.
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,898
From: Philadelphia, PA
ok, so you want to polish out your engine to look like a mirror. This is what i have done and would reccomend:
1) remove plastic cover (nissan v6 lid)on the valve cover
2) - sponge with a scrubby side to it
- bottle of palmolive (green one)
*** make sure engine is cold and too cover up the ignition coils with towels to prevent water contacting them***
3) wash down the entire valve cover with small amounts of water and palmolive soap with the scrubby sponge. Palmolive is a degreaser and will remove any contaminents on the valve cover itself.
4) If needed get a brillo pad and rinse out all of the soap in it. Use the palmolive soap again and scrub the $hit out of the valve cover, till somewhat clean.
5) Dry completely
6) get out your aluminum polish
- Mothers: mag/aluminum polish (small can $5)
- Meguiars: rim/aluminum polish (small can $8)
7) use a cotton towel and apply a fair amount of the polish to the valve cover, kinda like your waxing your car
8) let sit for 2min then buff off vigorously!!
9) repeat these steps until a briliant shine appears
***for anyone else who wants a MIRROR LIKE SHINE ***
1) buy wet sand paper (Black) at any hardware store
a) 400 gritt
b) 600 gritt
c) 800 gritt
d) 1000 gritt
e) 1500 gritt
2) use a spray bottle and mist the valve cover in small sections at a time.
3) start off with the 400 gritt paper. go over the area in long-wide strokes, while pressing fairly hard
4) repeat step3 with the 4 other sheets of sand paper goin in order from 400-1500
5) dry off engine
**once dried it will look all scratched up, this will go away once you buff out the cover with polish**
6) use your aluminum polish and polish the crap out of the valve cover again
7) repeat step7 enough times till you see a mirror appear!
1) remove plastic cover (nissan v6 lid)on the valve cover
2) - sponge with a scrubby side to it
- bottle of palmolive (green one)
*** make sure engine is cold and too cover up the ignition coils with towels to prevent water contacting them***
3) wash down the entire valve cover with small amounts of water and palmolive soap with the scrubby sponge. Palmolive is a degreaser and will remove any contaminents on the valve cover itself.
4) If needed get a brillo pad and rinse out all of the soap in it. Use the palmolive soap again and scrub the $hit out of the valve cover, till somewhat clean.
5) Dry completely
6) get out your aluminum polish
- Mothers: mag/aluminum polish (small can $5)
- Meguiars: rim/aluminum polish (small can $8)
7) use a cotton towel and apply a fair amount of the polish to the valve cover, kinda like your waxing your car
8) let sit for 2min then buff off vigorously!!
9) repeat these steps until a briliant shine appears
***for anyone else who wants a MIRROR LIKE SHINE ***
1) buy wet sand paper (Black) at any hardware store
a) 400 gritt
b) 600 gritt
c) 800 gritt
d) 1000 gritt
e) 1500 gritt
2) use a spray bottle and mist the valve cover in small sections at a time.
3) start off with the 400 gritt paper. go over the area in long-wide strokes, while pressing fairly hard
4) repeat step3 with the 4 other sheets of sand paper goin in order from 400-1500
5) dry off engine
**once dried it will look all scratched up, this will go away once you buff out the cover with polish**
6) use your aluminum polish and polish the crap out of the valve cover again
7) repeat step7 enough times till you see a mirror appear!
so which process gives the best shine... the second one with the sandpaper? the more times i read over it, the easier this seems to be.. i'm gonna do this soon
For us...
Use a dremel or rotory tool with sanding disk. Sand all the dimples out until fairly smooth.
Use a bucket of water with a bit of soap to keep the sandpaper wet. This is very important.
80 grit
120 grit
220
400
600
800
1000
1500
2000
After 2000 grit use mother mags polish to polish it out to a nice shine.
That's all it takes, you just need patience and a lot of elbow grease.
Here is a link to the thread I made while working on the manifold.
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=553600
Use a dremel or rotory tool with sanding disk. Sand all the dimples out until fairly smooth.
Use a bucket of water with a bit of soap to keep the sandpaper wet. This is very important.
80 grit
120 grit
220
400
600
800
1000
1500
2000
After 2000 grit use mother mags polish to polish it out to a nice shine.
That's all it takes, you just need patience and a lot of elbow grease.
Here is a link to the thread I made while working on the manifold.
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=553600
Hey guys, Quick Question.
Could someone please post a picture or link of what the metal grinding bit that you can put into a screw driver. ive tried many different tools but I cant seem to get the dimples out of the intake manifold
Could someone please post a picture or link of what the metal grinding bit that you can put into a screw driver. ive tried many different tools but I cant seem to get the dimples out of the intake manifold
You need a wire wheel/brush like those at the bottom of this page: http://www.wolfcraft.com/display_pro...cat=3&group=16
Start with a larger coarser one and move to a finer one. They will definitely take out the surface texture, but they will leave behind a grooved or brushed look that you will need to smooth out by sanding.
Start with a larger coarser one and move to a finer one. They will definitely take out the surface texture, but they will leave behind a grooved or brushed look that you will need to smooth out by sanding.
i never thought abt that, but that polish look...daammm polish looks realll nice and stand out more as well
i actually went out today to try and attempt this and ran back inside thanks to the wind, snow flurries and cuz of how cold it is,i live in NYC, so i guess this is going to have to wait till May or so for me
I will have a polished upper intake manifold for sale from a 4th gen soon when I install my MEVI. Its pretty much fully polished, but only in the areas that are visible upon installation. For example, the back and bottom aren't shined up. Here are some pics:
on my old 95 SE:
in comparison to a non polished IM:
PM me with interests.
on my old 95 SE:
in comparison to a non polished IM:
PM me with interests.
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