idle

iTrader: (5)

For those who know how to polish Al, I need some help. I am looking to polish my valve covers, and depending on how well it goes, polishing other bits of aluminum on my car.

Here's what I know now: I need to buy 300-2000 grit and wet sand it, working my way up to finer grit. My issue is buffing. I do not have a 90 deg. buffer; all I have is a cordless, Dewault power drill. What do I need? I'm not looking for show-quality, just looking for something that looks good and better than stock.

Thank you in advance!

burgundybullet

I dont know if this will help or not but when I polish the aluminum on my 1985 Honda Shadow motorcycle I use Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polish. I always do it by hand too. You may be able to buff with this after you sand down your valve covers to achieve a very high shine. If I were in your position I would give that a shot. Really good stuff.

idle

iTrader: (5)

I would consider that worthlessly wiping down metal. I'm talking about really polishing it using different grades of wetsand paper and buffing.

TechCam97

iTrader: (5)

I have a powerball and it works pretty well for what I need it for. Here is a video that shows a guy polishing up some aluminum wheels with it:

idahoz28

iTrader: (2)

after you work your way to 2000 grit use a powerball and some Mothers and it will be like a mirror. White diamond metal polish also work wonders

idle

iTrader: (5)

Okay, that's the plan. Has anyone ever done this to their front cover or any other parts of the block? I'm starting to think I may just stick with just cleaning and not polishing it lol

TallgeeseIV

iTrader: (1)

I've only done this for aluminum wheels, but in my experience, 2000 grit was still too low. I went all the way to 5000 grit, then polished with mother's and a mother's power cone. white diamond also works well, but it's runnier than the mother's and makes a total mess with the polishing drill bit.