Got Bored; Did Some Polishing

[satanic]

Got bored with nothing to do today so I decided to do some polishing work to "further" dress up that engine bay Can never have enough bling under there to show the cops ~

Anyways, decided to finish off the half hearted job I did on the BOV pipe so I removed it and got to work... took the following steps:

1) Removed all the unsightly cast marks that do nothing but make it look ugly

2) Removed any unecessary chunks of metal used for mounting (only the ones not used)

3) Prepped the whole pipe's surface for polishing

4) Polished

5) Got very dirty

Anyways, whole process took about 3 hours and the result came up really good Almost looks like a custom piece of metal was fabricated. I only did the bits that you can see from opening the bonnet and walking around it; didn't bother with the underneath side.

Here are some pics; comparision with the stock un-polished pipe that I had lying around the shop:

But then I got even more bored and decided to polish the standard BOV and fit that in atmo setup; getting sick of the flutter sound This is what I came up with...

Fitted it and hoped for the best... didn't really like the sound so I took it off and drilled 4 whistle holes into the chamber pipe... re-fitted and went for another drive; perfect!!! Nice and subtle pssshhhtt; can hardly hear it and with a bit of throttle control; can actually have it on/off

Anyways; just thought I'd tell my story for the day...

If anyone wants more info; just PM me

[Mr. Oizo]

nice work polishing

someone was selling one of those on ebay last week

[satanic]

Thanks mate... actually was my second polishing job of the day; first one was for one of our customers... he did it so it looked like a continuation of his FMIC pipe into the throttle body instead of looking real ugly from the top half upwards.

[justin911]

this might be a stupid question, but how did u polish em ?

[satanic]

Started off using an angle grinder to get rid of any of the stuff I didn't want on the pipe; then used various types of discs to get it all smooth and ready for polishing.

Polishing was done on a bench grinder with different types of wheels and compounds... finished it off with a kerosene bath to remove any polish left (not good for engine) and voila!

[CruiseLiner]

this is all done at home on the buffer, god damn its a messy job but its soo much nicer than painting everything

[satanic]

Nice... that would've taken ages!!!

[CruiseLiner]

Nice... that would've taken ages!!!

haha yer its not a quick process, ive had soo many mates come and see it and say oh ill do my rocker covers only to see them give up half way through and leave em dull as hell. should see how damn black my face and arms are after spending hours in front of the buffer.

worst part is they are spotless until u install them and then touch them with oil/greasy hands then it marks em and they require a rebuff

definately worth it in the end though, ive done, rocker covers, coil cover, alternator, intercooler, timing cover, intercooler piping, plenum, throttle bodies, throttle cable setup and anything else thats made of ally in the engine bay

thats actually my old cars engine bay its now got a single turbo so i had to put all those twin turbo pipes away for good after all that effort. those intake pipes are hpc coated not polished thats why they aint shiny.

so u gonna do your rocker covers and stuff now or u think its too much stuffing around???

Edited July 30, 2006 by CruiseLiner

[Freddy Kruger]

who that looks great... i should polish tha standard one i got before i put it in the enginebay so it goes with everything else...

a front facing plenum looks awesome too. makes the engine bay look way cleaner without intercooler piping snaking its way everywhere...

[satanic]

My rocker covers are already done... most of the metal in the engine bay is done actually; only have the intake plenum and throttle body to be done and that's about all...

I've even going to the extent of polishing up all the brass bits (all the brackets etc) to make it all match up and shiny!

You are right, it does take ages - I guess we're lucky because we have all the tools etc from doing it as part of the business.

Did you use all different compounds to get that sort of a finish? I find that the compounds reduce the time involved by heaps...

Question: are your turbo comp covers all polished too

and how did you go about removing those cast marks or chuncks?

[MK2]

Guess if youre going too that much trouble to make it all nice and shiny wouldnt it be better while its in bits too get them anodised (assuming theyre an aluminium/aluminium alloy?) and keep corrosion off.

Never have too paint or polish them again either!

[CruiseLiner]

My rocker covers are already done... most of the metal in the engine bay is done actually; only have the intake plenum and throttle body to be done and that's about all...

I've even going to the extent of polishing up all the brass bits (all the brackets etc) to make it all match up and shiny!

You are right, it does take ages - I guess we're lucky because we have all the tools etc from doing it as part of the business.

Did you use all different compounds to get that sort of a finish? I find that the compounds reduce the time involved by heaps...

Question: are your turbo comp covers all polished too

and how did you go about removing those cast marks or chuncks?

sounds like u done most of it then no my turbo comp cover isnt done (wasnt done on the low mount twins either), my hks turbo is a funny rough finish and it says hks t04z on the front and polishing around letters is a pain and half done jobs look worse than not doing it at all.

this is the new engine bay (sorry the photo was taken with shockin light so its hard to see)

i remove the rough casting marks with a round flapper sanding wheels on the drill, and sometimes a grinder with a flat sanding disk if its really rough. then use 240 grit sand paper, then 400 grit, then 600, and then 1200, then onto a hard buffing wheel, then a medium buffing wheel and then the polishing wheel (always using same compound on every step, white stuff, unsure of the name).

cheers

[satanic]

The anodized look doesn't really do it for me; too "dull" IMO. Another factor is that it costs too much to do.

Keeping the parts polished/shiny is easy - once every month just wipe everything down with some kerosene and it's like new!

[satanic]

You should look into the different compounds available for polishing wheels; you'll find it'll cut the times down and give you a better finish.

Also; since you're polishing it on the grinder - there's not really much need for the sand paper; it'll all get smooth once it's polished.

But I like your work; it's very very nice!

I'll take some photos of my engine bay and I'll post it up too

[CruiseLiner]

You should look into the different compounds available for polishing wheels; you'll find it'll cut the times down and give you a better finish.

Also; since you're polishing it on the grinder - there's not really much need for the sand paper; it'll all get smooth once it's polished.

But I like your work; it's very very nice!

I'll take some photos of my engine bay and I'll post it up too

can u get the names of the different types u use for different stages? ill be doing my other rb26/30 engine in the near future so any tips to shortcut things is a bonus

[Munna1]

looks good poshed parts look heaps better than painted ones I recon.

[satanic]

CruiseLiner: I'll talk to my business partner who purchases all our polishing supplies. I'll PM you if he tells me; he's pretty anal about the stuff - I've just picked it up from watching him do it all the time.

Munna1: Totally agree

[satanic]

Here are some really crap photos of some work we did for a R32GTR just before the customer sold it... I think the goal was to increase the "value" of the car somewhat, and/or make it so it's that bit more attractive?

[nizmokid]

yeah I have hand polished my parts on my car and they look soo good! will have to get a pic up when I get my car back from the mechanics!

[wilch]

Got Bored; Did some Polishing

Did you now. Careful, you might go blind...