Polishing

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Dec 10, 2001 | 10:43 PM

RichAshley-Black99

Thread Starter

Drifting

Joined: Nov 2001

Posts: 1,348

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From: STL Mo

Polishing

I want to polish my plenium, runners and valve covers But Ive never polished anything before How do I do it?? Or is it cheap to get it done What about crome? :crazy: :crazy:

Dec 10, 2001 | 11:01 PM

BlackRocket

Drifting

Joined: Aug 2001

Posts: 1,606

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From: Vacaville, CA

Re: Polishing (AshleyRL-87Conv)

Polishing is not too hard to do on flat surfaces, but in areas like the runners, it's almost impossible to get an excellent job between the tight areas. The actual polishing is a messy and dirty way to spend ones day and requires many steps to get it right with sanding to start with. A novice would most likely destroy the contours of your intake. Even the experts will accidently spend a few extra moments on a hard edge which then becomes slightly rounded off as compared to like edges on another area. This is the nature of polishing, but it looks awesome when completed. Chromed aluminum requires polishing prior to plating and isobviously not as durable as polishing due to the scratching and flaking problem... :)

Dec 10, 2001 | 11:29 PM

91BlkonBlk

Intermediate

Joined: Jan 2001

Posts: 36

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From: Chesapeake VA

Re: Polishing (AshleyRL-87Conv)

Entails alot of elbow grease, sandpaper, and steel wool if you're unlucky enough not to be able to use a buffing wheel attached to a die grinder. Eastwood has a catalog that is full of buffing products and "how to" books. I've polished the rims on my ZX-11 using the above methods and tools. Came out pretty nice, but now I have to clean and polish on a weekly basis to keep the shine up.

Speaking of polishing, has anyone polished their acrylic top? Once had a detailed procedure to do this stored on my PC, but the hard drive died.

Dec 11, 2001 | 02:31 AM

92corvette

Burning Brakes

Joined: Nov 2000

Posts: 1,117

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From: DFW TX

Re: Polishing (AshleyRL-87Conv)

See my previous post here:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=194496

Dec 11, 2001 | 02:52 AM

MarkLT1

Le Mans Master

Joined: Sep 2001

Posts: 7,928

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From: More cowbell...

St. Jude Donor '04

Re: Polishing (AshleyRL-87Conv)

You can also just polish part of your plenum, and paint the rest (I know its not the same engine, but here is what I did)

Its really easy to polish the tops of the fins (took me 20 minutes) and with the red paint, I think it is a nice touch on the engine! :)

Dec 11, 2001 | 06:55 AM

vettenuts

Team Owner

Joined: Mar 1999

Posts: 22,025

Likes: 192

From: At the beach in little Rhody

Re: Polishing (MarkLT1)

I did my 90 last year and it came out really nice. A lot of work, so you have to be absolutely sure you want to take it on. I started with a kit from Eastwood for polishing aluminum and then did the distributor cover and alternator upper bracket first to gain experience and confidence. I next did the plenum and then the runners. The runners take a lot of patience and time, but they will come out really nice. I used emory cloth cut into strips on the runners and sanded them down before polishing. I also did the intake and the A/C bracket. I did the valve covers but didn't coat them with Diamond Coat (Eastwood clear coat) and regretted it later. I could actually watch them tarnish as I installed them. I was going to remove them this winter and re-polish and then coat with Diamond Coat but I sold the car. Someone on the 3rd gen Camaro site has a good web page on polishing that should get you started. I did it as a winter project and fixed the manifold leak at the same time.

Dec 11, 2001 | 12:02 PM

black bart

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Joined: Jul 2001

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From: La Fontaine Indiana

Re: Polishing (AshleyRL-87Conv)

I polished intake and covers on mine but got tired of constant polishing on the valve covers and put on polished aluminum. What has not been mentioned in this thread is the GM covers are made of magnesium not aluminum and they require constant polishing. You can chrome aluminum but can not chrome magnesium. :lol:

Dec 11, 2001 | 03:49 PM

Jsailor24

Burning Brakes

Joined: Feb 2001

Posts: 841

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From: Wichita, Ks, USA

Re: Polishing (black bart)

I did mine recently. a real PITA to get the runners and valve covers out. I never got the runners off. If you're going to try, do the rear drivers side lower bolt 1st. Its the hardest one and if you cant get it it wont come out anyway. I used a belt sander to get the texture off and then sandpaper in assorted grits to 600 then the ultra fine steel woll, then a polish called "Blue magic" ended up looking great. If you take the runners off replace the gaskets, i didnt and had a vacum leak.