Polishing the intake manifold

[Muldoon]

I have some time to kill before the completion of the motor. What is the best way to go about polishing the intake manifold? I have polished everyother peice I could get my hands on... left the most difficult looking for last!
tips?

[BrendellaJet]

send it out! Lots of work. Need to remove the casting flash and get it smooth first. If you had the right equipment with some large wheels that were really moving you could do it with compounds only I imagine but those big wheels will rip that thing out of your hands quick and send them flying...

[daddy b]

Seriously....it's worth the 300.00. It's absolutely aweful unless you are set up with the right tools...:eek:

[pw_Tony]

If it's brand new I wouldn't polish it yurself, but if it's decently old and used then give it a try. Start with 60 grit on a 90*die grinder sanding pad, move up to 80 grit, then to 120. After you get that shine from 120 grit you should be able to use scotch brights and higher grits. Then move to a small buffer with some compound.
But the most important thing to know is not to dig holes with the SandPapers, it's really easy too. Just make sure you hit the high spots the most and don't stay in one spot too long.
But if you gots the money have it sent out;)

[jimsplace]

I have polished several manifold and it has been my experience that most of the polishing will be done with smaller polishing tools. The large buffers are to large to get into most of the runner areas.
I like to use the dremmel Advantage with a flex shaft. It is reasonably powerful and the flex shaft option allows you to get into some really tight locations. There are several different brands of flex shaft buffing tools, but this one is fairly durable and powerful. The advantage is also one of the less expensive tools that meets the needs. Power is very important with any of the buffing tools.
It sounds like you have done some polishing already, but I would really suggest using a face shield, resperator, and an enviromental suit and maybe you already do. Polishing is rewarding, but it is really dirty work. Like I said, it sounds like you have done some polishing and so I am sure you know what I mean.
Until I started using the protective gear, my allergies would start to act up. They cause me fewer problems now. (for what it's worth)
I too would like suggestion on polishing because there are many things that I am sure can be done easier.

[Cas]

get 1 of these sets from Eastwood.com (http://www.eastwood.com)
http://www.eastwoodco.com/images/us//local/products/detail/p2566.jpg
it'll make it somewhat easier.

[396_WAYS_TO_SPIT]

Send it out!!!!! I do all of my own polishing BUT I will NEVER do an intake!!!! Too many small spots!!!!!!!!!

[probablecause]

I...but I would really suggest using a face shield, resperator, and an enviromental suit and maybe you already do. Just to confirm, we are polishing a manifold?

[cudaz101]

I have done quite a bit of metal polising as well.
Yes it would take some time to do a bang up job on one. Depends on the intake as well.
With the casting marks I made the mistake of being too agressive and ended up making more work for myself putting the deep grooves in the metal. I would suggest using the lightest materials possible to get the job done. The lighter the scratch the easier it is to bring it to a luster. I think I used 600 on an intake and it was a great starting point.
The finish of this thing looked like the inside runners...It was pretty simple being its for an IL6 but hey it was a fair amount of work. I could have done a better job too.
http://zoto.com/cudaz101/img/45/7303dc79a49d34378cd930751d34e424.jpg
http://zoto.com/cudaz101/img/45/3a6682a2ee81953ef29b7d6344311161.jpg