Polishing Intercooler

[Astro Bear]

Good morning homies,

My front mount cooler, despite being only a few months old is not looking as blingy as it could be. It's looking a little dull and faded and I would like to get it nice and shiny.

Does anyone have any recommendations as to how i can make my cooler look a little better?

I was thinking of some chrome polish and a scratchie pad, but don't want to scratch the cooler either.

Let me know your thoughts.

Cheers,

[NZM.031]

why?? if you really must make it look all blingy and hot4s like.. get some acidic aluminium cleaner from super cheap and give it a spray, wait a few min, and hose it off.. make sure you wear gloves and glasses, and mix it up as per the instructions, and make sure you get a good even coverage, otherwise it will miss bits.. put it in a spray bottle and mist it on... it will turn white and foamy and your cooler will be as good as new.

but i say paint it black or leave it dull.

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

black cooler ftw

[smok74]

Good morning homies,

My front mount cooler, despite being only a few months old is not looking as blingy as it could be. It's looking a little dull and faded and I would like to get it nice and shiny.

Does anyone have any recommendations as to how i can make my cooler look a little better?

I was thinking of some chrome polish and a scratchie pad, but don't want to scratch the cooler either.

Let me know your thoughts.

Cheers,

Your best bet is go down to AUTOBAHN and grab yourself a tube of AUTOSOL. Comes in toothpaste-like tube. Use 2 pieces of soft COTTON cloth, DO NOT USE NYLON or anything harsh. Apply the Autosol with one cloth and rub it on in a circular motion AND dont rub in a straight line as you will leave lines/scratches all over the aluminium. Try not to be greedy and only work one area at a time - the trick is BE CONSISTENT. Let it dry a little and the use the other CLEAN cloth to buff it off lightly. Once you rub the Autosol into the aluminium, it will GO BLACK in colour, try to use a clean part of the cloth at all times.

This is the same technique I used to polish my RB26 rocker covers, I first used paint stripper to get rid of the factory black paint, rub the whole lot down with 2400 grit wet/dry (WET- with water) paper, buffed it a little using a buffing wheel on a power drill, then continued with this technique above......

AUTOSOL is a cheap option, if you want it to really GO OFF and money is not a concern, while you're down at Autobahn, grab yourself a tub of MEGUIAR'S MOTORCYCLE ALL METAL POLISH as well, apply and buff it the same way, but it gives a mirror finish that's best if you seal it off with 2-pack clear once it's done otherwise it's a waste of time. I do have to warn you, the MEGUIAR'S stuff isnt cheap.....around $20 for a small tub....but I guess the bikies can afford it LOL

Polishing aluminium is in fact pretty easy, the hardest part is that it's TIME CONSUMING..... I spent almost 15 hours on my custom Mr Enforcer inlet manifold and about the same on EACH of the three parts on my RB26 covers. That's the main reason why you'd wanna seal it with 2-pak clear afterwards.....

BUT having said all that...... your best bet is a $2 can of matt black from the local supermarket and keep the f*ckin cops off your back and keep yourself defect-free....... LOL

[Spunky Munky]

You can also get some petrol and use a cloth to wipe it down...it worked for me - looked as new WITHOUT the blingy look...

[TALBO]

Paint it black ffs.....

[(OO)SKYLINE(OO)]

If its silver (bare metal) you can use metal polish.

Or spray Degreaser on it and then hose it off.

[pipster11]

what sort of paint would you guys recommend?

cheep stuff for the core and better stuff for the end tanks? or just cheap all over?

thinking the more exy stuff will be thicker and the heat wont transfer as well