99camarosupersport

iTrader: (6)

i'm getting ready to polish up my tb and maf and ac condensor. i'm going to be using 1500 grit sandpaper, and i have some never-dull to wipe on it also. any advice or anything i'm missing that could be / should be polished ? thanks.

~JOSHUA

iTrader: (92)

I might have a few tips...

Can you get a corded drill and buy the "wheel arbor" from Eastwood? Then you can attach the yellow waffle pads that will take sooooo much effort out of the project. Here's a piture of the waffle pad. Get the 8inch pad, buy two. Use it with tripoli rouge. It's brown and is easy to find on the Eastwood site ===>

Buff Wheel Yellow Treated Ventilated

For Fastest Cut On Contoured Hard or Soft Metals
Faster Cutting, Longer Lasting Treated Buffs - Our new line of treated buffs work faster, longer than non-treated buffs. Suitable for faster material removal, these wheels take the place of standard and ventilated buffs. Used with Stainless Steel Compound (13001) or Tripoli Compound (13135). Great on hard or soft metals!
Item# Product Qty Price
13230 Buff Wheel 6" Yellow Treated Ventilated 1/2" Hole
$7.99
13231 Buff Wheel 8" Yellow Treated Ventilated 1/2" Hole $9.99
13232 Buff Wheel 10" Yellow Ventilated 3/4" Hole $11.99



When you sand start with 220/320 to get rid of the heavy gouges/marks. Go in one direction only. Go to 400 grit in the opposite direction till the sanding marks from the 220 are gone. Then 600 opposite direction get rid of the previous marks, keep doing this with 800,1200. Then you are ready for the waffle buff and tripoli. Buff in small sections going in the opposite grain every time you put more rouge on the buff. Do the last pass in the natural grain of the metal (the direction that holds the greatest shine) Get it to near completion, then finish with Mothers paste polish using the same yellow waffle. Use only a micro fiber towel to wipe the finished metal with.

If anyone wants more detail pm me and I'll give you my phone number. I'll walk you through the Eastwood site and set you up with $45 worth of all you need to get going.

You can also do the fuel rails, thermostat, plus any aluminum object. Even the engine block if you're crazy. Expect to spend one full day on the maf ends, and one full day on the tb. 95% of the work is in the sanding. The polishing is easy. You will need massive reserves of will power and patience. #1 ingredient. ~Joshua

Robinator

iTrader: (1)

FIREHAWK: Do you coat your parts after you polish them. I notice after I polish mine, over time and heat cycles they oxidize back up. It just takes some mothers to make em back to chrome but that is once again more time. Any tricks here?

~JOSHUA

iTrader: (92)

I don't have any coating what-so-ever.

What kills polish work is a porous finish that will collect fine debris (microscopic that acumulates into a haze) and also driving a car in the rain with road grime mist washing into the bay is the death kiss.


Here's a close up of mine 8 months after polishing (about one year ago) I swear to GOD I haven't touched it once since polishing it and it looks identical now as it does in the photo. The secret lies in a glass smooth finish (even a factory polished Weiand manifold is pourous). Plus I never drive the car in any rain. Once every other month I wipe off the dust with a micro fiber towel and that's it. It hasn't oxidized one bit ... at least I sure as hell can't notice any, notice you can see the reflection off the cylinder head?

99camarosupersport

iTrader: (6)

ok thanks for the advice firehawk#608, originally i started out using only 1500 grit and was working with that, then put on some never dull and wipe it off. it seemed to work really well my a/c condensor looks pretty shiny. my car is a DD so is this all worth it? how did you get your fuel rails looking like that? did you have to take them off....and your intake? i always thought it was ordered polished. thanks man.

~JOSHUA

iTrader: (92)

No, I disassembled the engine and did the work. The intake was a satin finish when I got it. It was rough as a corn cob. I traded a guy his new in the box satin Weiand for my LS6 straight across. I had a vision and I needed the intake to finish it.

If I daily drive the car, it would be a lot of work to keep it like this, but the smoother the initial job, the easier to clean and longer lasting the in-between shine will be.

You would need to remove the fuel rail and the injectors off the rail... like I mentioned, lots of patience and will power. I did it because I worship the LSx engine and I love my Firehawk that much.

Or... you could take the easy way out and buy some polished parts when my store opens. Water pumps new in the box polished for only $350,valve covers $115/exchange, belt tentioner $75/exchange, maf ends, everything! You will have a top notch starting point that will be easier to maintain on a daily driver. Some guys will probably have a cool polish/colored carbon fiber theme going on. ~Joshua

Here are the carbon fiber colors:

99camarosupersport

iTrader: (6)

so my ugly *** plastic feeling black ls6 intake is possible to be polished up like that?????? oh any other question firehawk, wetsand or dry.

~JOSHUA

iTrader: (92)

Not plastic bro.... I traded my plastic LS6 for a rough satin finish Weiand that you see in the pictures. Then I polished the aluminum. There is a coating to put on plastic that is chrome-like, but it's very expensive.

Wet-sand always. Keep a bowl of water with a gallon jug to replenish the bowl. Dip the paper every 15-30 seconds of scrubbing. Have some music and beer handy. ~Joshua

shudog

iTrader: (3)

so, aside from that aftermarket Weiand intake, is all that bling just stock parts, polished to a gleaming shine? That's soooooo nice by the way.

~JOSHUA

iTrader: (92)

Yup, all stock parts. Every inch sanded and polished. Thanks for the compliments! ~Joshua

The fuel injectors are painted silver, but everything else is polished.

99camarosupersport

iTrader: (6)

i think i have a BIG, new project on my hands. minus the intake. boo.

99camarosupersport

iTrader: (6)

i had been dry sanding thanks for stopping me lol. no more of that, thankfully it didnt scratch alot. does the wetsand shine it up a little better ? valve covers this weekend.....

Charlie@LsXperts

iTrader: (12)

wetsanding keeps the sandpaper from filling up with **** so fast, i did one of my valve covers yesterday and it was fun for 5 hours

~JOSHUA

iTrader: (92)

Wet sanding only keeps the sand paoer from loading up with aluminum particles. Same sanding charcteristics as a fresh dry sand.

Valve covers are the WORST thing to learn on. The GM castings are very pourous and are just a crummy casting. I spent 10+ hours each on mine.

If I were you I'd get the power attachments for a drill from Eastwood, Also spring for the sanding roll kit. Then disassemble your maf ends. Use the sanding rolls to grind off the rough casting imperfections, and then wet sand in the process mentioned, and buff using the waffle.

Trust me on this advice.

99camarosupersport

iTrader: (6)

are those eastwood tools you showed me sold in any stores or are they an online buy only?

~JOSHUA

iTrader: (92)

Nope, I've only seen them in Eastwood. Maybe after work I can post the screen shot of the tools.

Evaporate

iTrader: (22)

Josh, do you wet sand with the lower grits (220-600) too/

I don't know when to stop each grit. I've been hand sanding parts and can get them to a decent-looking polish but never mirror-like like yours. I get to a point where I feel like using 1000-2000 grit is not making it any mirror-like and give up so that I don't ruin it or waste time.

hpcubed

You can save a lot of time using scotch bright pads on a die grinder for the rough work.

crazymofo1986

iTrader: (3)

ditto on that cant get that finish

Orange Peel

iTrader: (20)

Joshua - Nice tips on polishing, I will use them in the future!

One thing though, with all the time and work spent on your motor, why do you still have those nasty old *** looking headers bolted to it? Maybe you don't, just old pics or something, but if so, you NEED to get some of the new QTP long tubes, they are polished stainless steel now, and MAN are they GORGEOUS! They would complete that bling motor so well, and give ya a few HP!!!

Just a thought