Just Finished Polishing The Intake. Check It Out...
#1
Just Finished Polishing The Intake. Check It Out...
I'm disappointed in the amount of porosity in these intakes, but they still polish up decent. Next it's off to the chrome plater. See if you can see anything "different" about this in comparison to other intakes. Enjoy.
So what do you think?
So what do you think?
Last edited by thesoundandthefury; 08-25-2006 at 02:59 PM.
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#9
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Wow. Looks great. That's a TON of work. I bet you have 40+ hours in that intake?
I took the easy way out. Had mine ceramic chrome coated (like this one ). Not as shiny, but still much better than stock. And for just over a hundred bucks, very cost effective for me.
I took the easy way out. Had mine ceramic chrome coated (like this one ). Not as shiny, but still much better than stock. And for just over a hundred bucks, very cost effective for me.
#12
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Originally Posted by aggiez28
looks good. i wonder if polishing it like that will make a difference if your going to get it crome plated...
brook
brook
#13
Originally Posted by NHRAMAN
I don't think it matters if its getting plated anyways....my buddy gets 5-10 things plated every week and he doesn't polish anything..looks good though..why not just leave it the way it is now.
Chrome is just the same as paint in that the final result is a direct reflection of the level of prep work that went into it. Without getting into too much detail and writing a novel, what makes it unfeasable to take a completely untouched LT1 intake and try to chrome it is that in order to build the layer of copper up to a thick enough level that all the rough casting pores are completely filled in, one of two things has to happen: (1) you plate the copper on until you've maxed out the voltage on your rectifier/anode setup and then take the part out and smooth down the high spots and repeat this process until the surface has completely evened out, or (2) get a bigger rectifier and anode that can put out enough power to build the copper layer up until it's thick enough to only need one polish session. Most chrome shops don't have rectifiers and anodes that put out enough juice to do option #2, (once you get past a certain voltage the price starts to increase exponentially), so they insist on polishing the part before plating to keep from having to do multiple dips.
So to answer your question as to whether it makes a difference if it's polished or not: hell yes, if you look at it from a $$$ standpoint. On the average, 2/3 of the amount that any quote a chrome shop will give you goes towards prepping the part. Between 3 local platers I found who would do this, by polishing it myself I saved between $350-$450.
Upkeep on something like this after it's installed on the engine would be a royal PITA if it was left bare. At least with chrome, all I'll need to use to keep it looking tip-top is a bottle of Windex and a paper towel.
I'm surprised nobody's figured out what looks different on this intake as opposed to a stock one. (Other than it being shiny.)
#17
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Originally Posted by 95wht6spd
The extra small hole near the TB holes?
Aren't you worried the chrome will not let the heat dissipate as much?
Aren't you worried the chrome will not let the heat dissipate as much?
#18
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I don't see the hole under the throttle body for the crankcase vent..also the little nubs are gone from between the injector bosses where small brackets bolted too for the egr valve solenoids went.