Bling in the engine bay

[BADHAB|T]

Hey ladies and germs!

I have seen some engine bays with highly polished plenums, J pipes, factory i/c piping etc. I have some spare time and I'd like to give it a go. I assume its done with sand paper? Can someone tell me exactly what needs to be done. What grit etc.

Thanks heaps!

[Boostn247]

Go to your local hardware store..

*ask for wet & dry sandpaper

* get a course sandpaper firstly, like a 400-800, you choose, then go down to a real smooth 120 or something, then buff with auto sol!

[Mud]

isn't sandpaper graded the other way?

the lower the number = lower amount of grit on the paper, therfore larger more corse grit.

Higher number = finer grit and more of it?

[[[d a n n y]]]

yeap 800 is smooth

and u can go down low was like 50 which will be rough as..

[DAN00H]

hey - what you need to do (if you want to do it the easy way) is get some paint stripper, wipe it on with a rag on the painted sections (follow directions). this will get rid of the paint. you can then redo, or sand any areas that require more attention.

To polish, go to your local hardware store and usually in the power tools section you will find a Buffing/ Polishing compound KIT. it contains a grey and white block of the cutting/ polishing compound and a buffing wheel that attached to your drill. LOTS easier than doing it by hand BTW - the kit is only ~ $30. it shines it up like chrome!!!

[Dahtone Racing]

meh just get it chromed

we got 2 whole engine bays and a mini bike done for $1500

[ido09s]

or send it off to Mark the Polishing Guy

For someone that just wants to give it a go its way to much hard work to get right....

and if i was polishing something, i would be looking at more like 1200 grit sand paper or more if they make it.... the higher the number, the smoother the finish

[BADHAB|T]

Cheers guys! I have already looked in a couple of hardware stores and 1200 is the finest they have. It just felt too rough. Obviously not.

2GU UP 2 : Not everyone has the cash to do that, but why pay for someone to do it when you can do it yourself. Alot more stisfaction doing it yourself too.

I'm pretty sure Boostn247 meant 1200 grit, not 120

[DAN00H]

Cheers guys! I have already looked in a couple of hardware stores and 1200 is the finest they have. It just felt too rough. Obviously not.

2GU UP 2 : Not everyone has the cash to do that, but why pay for someone to do it when you can do it yourself. Alot more stisfaction doing it yourself too.

I'm pretty sure Boostn247 meant 1200 grit, not 120

agreed - I enjoyed doing a bit of polishing in my engine bay

[Dahtone Racing]

chroming looks better than polishing

the engine bays were a WRX and a S15 that was like every nut botl and washer in the whole car as well so it wouldnt cost that much just for bits of the engine bay

[DAN00H]

chroming looks better than polishing

the engine bays were a WRX and a S15 that was like every nut botl and washer in the whole car as well so it wouldnt cost that much just for bits of the engine bay

I like chrome as well, but for $30 tops, I was able to have a bit of fun and get a mirror finish

[Stirlo_GTR]

anyone can hand over money, not everyone can do it them selfs...

have a go, you can always pay someone to ix it.... or close the bonnet...

[BADHAB|T]

anyone can hand over money, not everyone can do it them selfs...

have a go, you can always pay someone to ix it.... or close the bonnet...

Damn straight!

[NZM.031]

yeh i agree, i did my plenum by hand, probs shouldnt have started it, but once started, it had to be finished. its not perfect, but i like it how it is.

not a fan of paying ppl to do up stuff for you, unless its specialist stuff. doing things yourself makes the car that much more apart of you.

cheers

Linton

[Dahtone Racing]

the way we did it was we stripped everything because the cars were gettin painted

and got it all electroplated

then trying to put it all back together was interesting lol

[Slide]

2GU UP 2 you have too much cash if your ever bored put a few k into my engine

[Dahtone Racing]

haha nah mate im broke as and the car isnt even on the road yet

the cars we were working on werent mine they were the other cars from our stand at autosalon (MC Racing Group)

[Slide]

haha you, broke ,your no different to every other skyline driver:rofl:

[Dahtone Racing]

hahah the things we do for your cars

[usuckpoo]

is there anyway to make the plenum look new again? Mines just looks aged and a little dary. I dont want to polish it becos it takes away the matt crackle finish , just want it to look like when it was brand new?