Polished a turd (Stock VC's)
02-16-2011, 05:06 PM
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Polished a turd (Stock VC's) Still gotta do the other one.
Started at 220gt, 320, 600 and 800. This is after 800gt, cloth-wheel with alum stick, and Aluminum polish. Not sure if I want to call it "Good enough for under hood" or take it down to 1000gt to get some of the clouds out. It'll be covered by the coils anyway. I'll do the RELO one of these days.
220gt progress.
After 600. -Got curious.... Left half is clothwheel, right side is not. Pretty cloudy still.
After 800gt, clothwheel and polish.
Moc-up.
Started at 220gt, 320, 600 and 800. This is after 800gt, cloth-wheel with alum stick, and Aluminum polish. Not sure if I want to call it "Good enough for under hood" or take it down to 1000gt to get some of the clouds out. It'll be covered by the coils anyway. I'll do the RELO one of these days.
220gt progress.
After 600. -Got curious.... Left half is clothwheel, right side is not. Pretty cloudy still.
After 800gt, clothwheel and polish.
Moc-up.
02-17-2011, 04:09 AM
#6
tooooo much time and effort.. paint the damn things lol 
Not sure if this link will work since it is for my 'garge' here on Tech.. If the link doesn't work, then I will post them from my photobucket acct
https://ls1tech.com/forums/album.php?albumid=8887
Not sure if this link will work since it is for my 'garge' here on Tech.. If the link doesn't work, then I will post them from my photobucket acct
https://ls1tech.com/forums/album.php?albumid=8887
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02-18-2011, 02:54 PM
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Went to 1000gt, then cloth wheel.. The 1000gt was showing MORE clouds for some damn reason.. 
Went to 2000gt and the same thing.. Cloth wheel too.. Now I just have these odd streaks of shiny and clouds. It's really bizarre. I do everything equally, so I don't get this. I'm not using heavy pressure on the wheel, just mild to normal. It will discolor the metal if you use too much pressure. The areas that I pay little attention to come out great, the flat areas and curves where I'm picky about come out like ****. I polished an intake plate for my buddy's Stang that wasn't even this picky.. This aluminum sucks.
Using Billet polish after the cloth wheel to clean and finish it. Helps a little...
Was watching some videos on YT about aluminum polishing and they used a BROWN bar first on the wheel.. I was going right to the white bar. Brown THEN white.. Got it.. Trying again..
And I'm not doing VCs for anyone else. Don't mean to be a dick, and sorry, but this is turning out to be a PITFA.. And I actually ENJOY polishing things. it's never been this difficult to turn something into a mirror.
Went to 2000gt and the same thing.. Cloth wheel too.. Now I just have these odd streaks of shiny and clouds. It's really bizarre. I do everything equally, so I don't get this. I'm not using heavy pressure on the wheel, just mild to normal. It will discolor the metal if you use too much pressure. The areas that I pay little attention to come out great, the flat areas and curves where I'm picky about come out like ****. I polished an intake plate for my buddy's Stang that wasn't even this picky.. This aluminum sucks.
Using Billet polish after the cloth wheel to clean and finish it. Helps a little...
Was watching some videos on YT about aluminum polishing and they used a BROWN bar first on the wheel.. I was going right to the white bar. Brown THEN white.. Got it.. Trying again..
And I'm not doing VCs for anyone else. Don't mean to be a dick, and sorry, but this is turning out to be a PITFA.. And I actually ENJOY polishing things. it's never been this difficult to turn something into a mirror.
Last edited by bayer-z28; 02-18-2011 at 03:02 PM.
02-18-2011, 04:19 PM
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I've got about six or seven hours into just THIS valve cover. It would be cheaper for someone to buy a nice set. If I charged even $20/hr it would be around $140 just in labor......... For ONE.
Better and good enough.. This aluminum is REALLY picky to the direction of the cloth wheel. Brown bar/crayon helped. THEN the white.
Example of the streaks. (before I finished and re-cloth'd it)
Done:
Better and good enough.. This aluminum is REALLY picky to the direction of the cloth wheel. Brown bar/crayon helped. THEN the white.
Example of the streaks. (before I finished and re-cloth'd it)
Done:
02-18-2011, 04:34 PM
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That looks really good, I may consider doing this myself. I remember doing this to my intake manifold on my old car and it took an eternity to finish it felt like lol. Mine didn't turn out as well as your's though. I couldn't figure out how to get rid of hazy parts so I called it quits and never finished.
02-18-2011, 04:56 PM
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^ This is a PITA too, so I hear ya..
Gotta step up the grits. 220, 320, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000 then Billet polish or a polishing compound with a disc. Anything past 2000gt you have to use a liquid because the abrasives are really fine. = Micro-abrasive like PlastX. The cloth wheel and crayons (bars) work WONDERS though!
Cuts a LOT of hand work out.
But these VCs were really picky about the DIRECTION in which you use the wheel. Really odd.
Just have to use the right materials. The billet polish or Aluminum polish works wonders. (Chrome = chrome polish etc etc... Mother's Billet polish is for all metals.
I thought about painting them, but I'm not sold on a color. Shiny sticks out more.
Prolly be dull by fall though. I gotta re-polish my AC lines now..
Gotta step up the grits. 220, 320, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000 then Billet polish or a polishing compound with a disc. Anything past 2000gt you have to use a liquid because the abrasives are really fine. = Micro-abrasive like PlastX. The cloth wheel and crayons (bars) work WONDERS though!
Cuts a LOT of hand work out. But these VCs were really picky about the DIRECTION in which you use the wheel. Really odd.
Just have to use the right materials. The billet polish or Aluminum polish works wonders. (Chrome = chrome polish etc etc... Mother's Billet polish is for all metals.
I thought about painting them, but I'm not sold on a color. Shiny sticks out more.
Prolly be dull by fall though. I gotta re-polish my AC lines now..
02-18-2011, 07:10 PM
#12
I was seriously thinking about doing this. I have polished a lot of stuff by hand, but the stock valve covers look pretty intimidating to do by hand due to all the nooks and crannies. Do you have any pictures of the wheel setup you have, and more info on the different bars you used? Which direction should these things be polished?? I have literally been doing this by hand so far, and it is a drag...
I even did a half-*** 1hr polish on the front of the valley cover (just the part that you see under the intake manifold snout).
Also, I use water and wetsand anything above 600 grit.
Any pics of the final mock-up?
I even did a half-*** 1hr polish on the front of the valley cover (just the part that you see under the intake manifold snout).
Also, I use water and wetsand anything above 600 grit.
Any pics of the final mock-up?
Last edited by ZexGX; 02-18-2011 at 07:17 PM.
02-18-2011, 08:11 PM
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^ Call me crazy, but I started with a DA and 220gt. That killed the casting lines on the edges and took a lot off. Gets to a good base. Then it was 320 on a vibe sander, 600 on the vibe, 800 on the vibe, then 1000wet by hand, 2000wet by hand.
For the wheel, it's just a cheap-o craftsman bench grinder with a cheap-o craftsman cloth wheel. I HAVE a buff (cloth) wheel somewhere. Just can't find it. Still have an assortment of sand paper, but seem to be out of 1500gt for some reason. Common grit.
If you don't have to do it by hand, don't. Mine isn't perfect, but good enough to hide under the coils. And for some reason, the VCs like being wheel'd the length of the VC's. Not up and down the short way. That will leave clouds for some damn reason. But you gotta do around the coil mounts somehow? So you're gonna leave marks whichever way you take. The bar you use makes a difference too. My "kit" said white was for aluminum, but I did some reading and the brown bar "cuts" more or may be slightly more abrasive and the white bar is a finishing compound.
Crayons/bars on the left. The putty knife helps clean the wheel off.
I call em crayons..
Everything else I used, minus 2 MF cloths. Iv'e got a whole other rubbermaid bin full of detail stuff, polishes and loose pieces of sandpaper.
For the wheel, it's just a cheap-o craftsman bench grinder with a cheap-o craftsman cloth wheel. I HAVE a buff (cloth) wheel somewhere. Just can't find it. Still have an assortment of sand paper, but seem to be out of 1500gt for some reason. Common grit.
If you don't have to do it by hand, don't. Mine isn't perfect, but good enough to hide under the coils. And for some reason, the VCs like being wheel'd the length of the VC's. Not up and down the short way. That will leave clouds for some damn reason. But you gotta do around the coil mounts somehow? So you're gonna leave marks whichever way you take. The bar you use makes a difference too. My "kit" said white was for aluminum, but I did some reading and the brown bar "cuts" more or may be slightly more abrasive and the white bar is a finishing compound.
Crayons/bars on the left. The putty knife helps clean the wheel off.
I call em crayons..
Everything else I used, minus 2 MF cloths. Iv'e got a whole other rubbermaid bin full of detail stuff, polishes and loose pieces of sandpaper.
02-19-2011, 01:24 PM
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I applaud the effort you've put in to that valve cover but I think mine will be getting painted or powder-coated based on your experience with polishing them.
02-19-2011, 07:08 PM
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^ This is a PITA too, so I hear ya..
Gotta step up the grits. 220, 320, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000 then Billet polish or a polishing compound with a disc. Anything past 2000gt you have to use a liquid because the abrasives are really fine. = Micro-abrasive like PlastX. The cloth wheel and crayons (bars) work WONDERS though! Cuts a LOT of hand work out.
But these VCs were really picky about the DIRECTION in which you use the wheel. Really odd.
Just have to use the right materials. The billet polish or Aluminum polish works wonders. (Chrome = chrome polish etc etc... Mother's Billet polish is for
I thought about painting them, but I'm not sold on a color. Shiny sticks out more. Prolly be dull by fall though. I gotta re-polish my AC lines now..
Gotta step up the grits. 220, 320, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000 then Billet polish or a polishing compound with a disc. Anything past 2000gt you have to use a liquid because the abrasives are really fine. = Micro-abrasive like PlastX. The cloth wheel and crayons (bars) work WONDERS though!
Cuts a LOT of hand work out. But these VCs were really picky about the DIRECTION in which you use the wheel. Really odd.
Just have to use the right materials. The billet polish or Aluminum polish works wonders. (Chrome = chrome polish etc etc... Mother's Billet polish is for
I thought about painting them, but I'm not sold on a color. Shiny sticks out more.
Prolly be dull by fall though. I gotta re-polish my AC lines now..I will definitely give another crack at it with some used valve covers, as I'm interested in getting good at it. Can't wait to see what those look like finished and installed, good work man.
