Polish

[purplerain]

Ok, I know this has been discussed here before, but would any of you guys that have taken the plunge and polished your own aluminum parts run through the process for us burns :notam: one more time. I am at the point where I am ready to polish my intake manifold, and I just want to hear from a few experienced gear heads that may have a few tricks or methods that could save a brotha' a little time. I know this is not going to be easy. I know I can save a lot of hours and just go buy a new polished one. So with that said any help or photos would be appreciated. Thanks

[BUSBY]

I hate to agree with you ... but save yourself a bunch of time ...
You're in Houston, I'm sure there are polish shops there, spend the $80 - $100 and pick it up in a few days done.
Start with small pieces first before learning on your manifold. You need to smooth out all of the blems before a really nice finish will come out. There are a lot of tight spots on your manifold ... & they're not fun.
I have polished parts for 10+ years for our boats ... and I still send in the larger items. It's not worth the time for me.
Good luck ...
BB

[BrendellaJet]

Ive been playing around with polishing parts lately. Made a rail kit and once i was happy with the fit I started sanding to get all the blems out. I bought "drop" materials so it wouldn't be so pricey. There were some gouges that needed a lot of elbow grease to smooth out. Normally with just mild nicks and scrapes, starting with 220 and working my way up to 320,600,1000 and 1500(not as bad as it sounds) I was able to get a good shine with just a couple of minutes on the buffing wheel. I wet sanded everything and just spent a couple of minutes with each grade and Im pleased with the results.
Now that I feel like Ive got it down, I cringe looking at my manifold. Thats going to a professional. Ill do the flat or angled parts any day. PM me if you want more instruction.

[FlatRat]

For deep gouges and to radius the edges I use a 90 deg. die grinder and Scotchbrite pads.Start off depending on how deep,with the red ones then go to the blue.Keep beer close by.Then I use a palm sander w/220 wet and work my way up 600 wet.This will save alot of time. As far as the manifold they are a pain.If you can get it done for a "hunch" that would the way to go.Have fun.