Polishing?

[jay]

I know a few guys on here have done it themselves to there Plenums and various other bits. Just wondered how its done and what stuff to use, is there any tricks or is it just hard work?
 Also what about your turbo,assuming you only have one, can these be polished?
 Jay

[wookie]

It\'s pretty crappy work you tend to get smothered in s#it. As for what you need a variety of polishing compounds and polishing mops, and off course the machine to run them on........
Give this guy a try tell him i sent you
Lee @ Custom reflections 07786153902 he\'s only in bexleyheath in kent so not far from you.
Yes you can polish the turbo most people only polish the inlet side as it\'s ali and will come up well shiney :cool

[shaunwil]

I would not reconmend you doing it yourself. I had an absolute knightmare trying to do mine with some mops on a bench grinder. There are so many nooks and crannies where you cant get the wheel. Plus the other question is if you want it smoothing first. I spent 2 days trying to get mine something like :eek I ended up going down the powdercoat route and was really happy with the results.

Shaun

[Kron]

Probably being a bit naive but wouldn\'t a decent set of sanding attachments on something like a dremel do the job for the nooks and crannies or is it ALOT more intensive than that?

[McCARTHY]

its not hat hard just very very long winded, but very rewarding when its done. Its really depends on the surface your starting from to what you start with. Various wheels that can be drill mounted to start off, then you go very rough wet n dry, and step down from like a 250 and finish on a 1200. After this you start using polishing soaps these go down in grades as well (you use the soaps on a buffing pad). Then you finish off with some nice metal polish and bingo. Be prepared to spend all day donig this to get a good finish.

see the intercooler below

[smarts]

I\'m def interested in getting this done, either powdercoat or polished up - clean and shiny is good and all that.

Only thing that worries me is won\'t the heat cause the powder coat to degrade / come off?

Si.

[D2BBA]

Polished quite a few things now on my various motors...the wheels on my FD, the plenum and the hard pipes and the track wheels from the old Rover.  Will do alot more soon.

I know sone are put off, but it aint too bad considering you can add a personal touch to your car for next to f all.  Yeah it is hard to get into the nooks and crannies, however if you use the dremmel or wet & dry paper it aint too bad.

A friend got me started on it and we both use the kit supplied by Frost (3 abrasive mops and 3 polish mops, all via an electric drill).

have a look below at some of the various bits i\'ve done (they were all done in a bit of a rush for varioyus shows, but it shows whats possible.

Ta
Chris

[shaunwil]

The powdercoat is applied to the body by heat. I\'ve had my plenum powder coated for a couple of months and been to the isl of man It hardly needs cleaning, just a damp cloth if im worried about it. I\'d be more concerned over the polish loosing its luster, your basically removing all the oxidation thats built up on the aluminium and revealing fresh alu. So it will loose its polish quite quickly.

That intercooler is top notch job, as with the rx8 wheels. Did you clear coat them after the polish ?

Shaun

[D2BBA]

intercooler is top notch job, as with the rx8 wheels. Did you clear coat them after the polish ?

Shaun

Hi mate,

I thought about applying a clear coat but have found this to dull the finish.  I use autoglym metal polish every now and again on the wheels.  The pics with the wheels on the car show them between polishes (they dont seem to dull).

HTH
Chris

[asp]

bench grinders tend to spin to fast for polishing,thay heat up the work piece to much,

[Jono FD3]

As all the above have said: it\'s hard work but when its done it looks fab! did my mazdaspeed splits and they look fab. bitch to keep clean mind!
It also depends on how soft the alloy is as to how it polishes up!

Basicaly all I do is:
250 Wet N Dry,
400 W N D
800 W N D
1200 W N D

Then you can eather use a polish mop on an electric drill
or if you can get one, a car polisher from a body shop and some G6 cutting compound.

Wipe it clean
Then go over it with Brasso
Hai Presto Mirror finish.

(Nows the time to do a bank job or late night borowing, \'cos you\'ve got no finger prints!!)

Jono

[Turbotez]

i wanna polish random bits of metal now for no apparent reason lol

[McCARTHY]

i wanna polish random bits of metal now for no apparent reason lol

thats the problem you start looking for things to polish then it becomes an obsession and before you\' know it you realised you gone abit to far and  mirror polished the whole car!!!!!

[deanflowers]

WHAT LIKE THIS



 

[McCARTHY]

just like that