I know it has been up before but can someone please post the link or thread about how to properly polish your intake manifold....thanks.

-Carson

 

can anyone help me out? I would like to start on this tomorrow....I know I need to sand it and then polish, but I need more spacific directions, like what grit sandpaper, what polish to get...etc. Thanks.

-Carson

 

It's a very long tedious process. And if you don't have the right tools and machines, it won't ever come out right. You are talking up over 50-75+ hours to do even a decent job.

 

Holy crap!!!....I thought I would be more like 10-20...why in the heck does it take so long....I have an air compressor and I think I have the proper tools...i.e. sander and angle grinder?

 

I tried to find that 5.0 mustang intake manifold site that explained it but I couldn't. You need specialized tools to get into the nooks and crannies. Then high speed equipment to polish the manifod. Thing is our manifolds have a texture that needs to be sanded down. Very, very tedious. I recommend doing a core swap and buying though Tony 1max2nv I believe is his screen name.

 

try www.trgperformance.com , they can polish and powder coat basically any engine part, it can cost a bit of money, especially for an intake manifold ($175) , but if you are too lazy to do it on your own, go for it.

 

Carson you should be able to search. tsk tsk...

 

I started on it a little bit last night, but I need to get more pads now....it is coming along but it is no where close to being all the way sanded. WHat kinda speciality tools are you all talking about? I have a angle grinder, and I have a dremel....what else would I need?

 

ive done this myself and i must say it something i would NEVER do myself again. Its not worth all the time youll spend. It will never look as good as a machine polished manifold, especially if you dont remove your manifold. Your better off contacting Tony (1max2nv) and have his guy polish it out for you. You wont be dissapointed with the results.

Ant

 

Well I am going to try to do what I can myself....it already looks a lot better in just 30 minutes of work....yes I know it will be a pain, and it will never be as good as a professional....but if I do need to take it to a professional in the end it will be cheaper if the manifold is already smooth. I have a long weekend coming up and I am going to see what I can get done. So if anyone has any recomendations on what sandpaper and polish to use please let me know....I have a high rpm angle grinder.

 

I don't envy you man. I polished my 300z alumin calipers with a flap wheel, sand paper, electric drill and a dremel. If I can find the post I'll list it. I only did 1/2 of the caliper and it probably took 10 hours each.

 

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....3&page=1&pp=30


Brief description on how I did my calipers. Which would be easier than a manifold as it's not as textured.

 

I am also in the process of trying to get a nice mirror finish out of our lovely cast aluminum 4th gen intake manifolds. So far I have approx. 30 hours into it and I'm about 65% there. I started our with 80 grit 5" discs with a Makita angle sander (H. Depot $80). That took care of the rough textured outer finish. Then I moved onto various Scotch-Brite pads that I cut into 5" circles to fit my sander. This is the most tedious part of the whole process I think. Very time comsuming because you also have to scotch-brite the hard to reach nook & crannies by hand. Then I usedwet sand paper starting with 220 grit and working my way to 2000 grit. I found a compound called Tripoli in the tool section of H.Depot and I used it with a buffing wheel on that same sander (best tool I ever bought). The buffer and compound gave me a bright mirror shine after a couple of passes on one of the runners. Very excited at this point, but the whole project still needs a lot of work. So be prepared to put in the hours. And by the way, you don't have to polish EVERY little part to make it look great....Look at the I.M. on your max now....some parts can't even be seen with all the throttle cables in the way, ya know? LATER!

 

Over the winter, I might pull mine off again to get it redone. It dulls over time. I might look into powercoating it candy apple red next. Carson, I pm'ed you on the info to my guy.

 

Tony, there might be a ceramic coating that's supposed to be fairly shiny. Could be a performance mod also.