polishing engine bay

[silver gts-t]

need help from those who have or know bout polishing up an engine bay

ive had my licence suspended for 1month and since the car isnt goin no where

ive decided to polish all the alloys in the engine.

more to the point im using a orbital sander with 320grit paper on the pipe with the stock bov and having trouble getting it smooth all the way down, and am scared to use a thicker paper.

after this process i plan to use a 800grit then a 1200

im also plannng on doin plenum n engine

any suggestions on mayb goin about it a better way or added info on the matter??

also ive already done a search on the topic and it helped only to a certain extent

if anyone has pics it would also b great.

john c

[Genesis®]

chk out predator's engine bay... he just got it done up as well and it looks really good.

[silver gts-t]

bump help

[predator]

It won't become smooth until you start using the other finer grade papers.. then it will start getting a lot shinier. Its hard work and takes many hours but eventually it'll come up.

Just keep going, sounds like you've got the right idea.

[silver gts-t]

thanks u got any pics?

[predator]

i got pix of the end result? but not really along the way unfortunately..

[jmp]

I'd been keen on the end result if you have pics pred. I want to do something like this too.

[silver gts-t]

end result will do!

post em up

[walkoau]

end result will do!

post em up

i done all this about 5 months ago. just used sand paper to get all the cast marks out of the alloy then used a polishing cloth on a bench grinder i used 2 stages on the polishing mop for the bench grinder , first a medium compound then fine/mirror. hope this helps.

i couldnt attach my pics cause they are already in a thread here. do a search or look for a thread tittled '' my new look engine bay '' all my pics are there.

[predator]

here is mine: http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/sh...ead.php?t=31877

.. over time the shinyness does tend to fade a little.

you can also use one of those buffer attachments for a drill and a decent polishing compound if you don't have a bench grinder.

[silver gts-t]

thanks 4 the help fellas,

ill post my end results soon

i hope

[Messiah]

Predator> ok so to sum it all up...you did

1. Sanded down any burs and crap (what grade papers you use?)

2. Polished (use anything specific?)

3. Repeated 1 and 2 until desired shinyness

4. painted (any prep work needed primers etc etc?)

this sum it all up? am taking notes

[SKY031]

.. over time the shinyness does tend to fade a little.  

Autosol fixes that...

I have a polished plenum, rocker cover and power steering canister.

It's a fair bit of work to keep it shiny, but it looks pretty

Before and after pics of the engine bay can bee seen in the link under my avatar.

[junkie13]

if i go do a fulll detaill would they clean the engine bay for you

[RBVS]

it takes a long time but the longer you spend the better it gets. you got the idea of steping down the grade papper, i use wet an dry. apply small amount of water or petrol to sanding surface or papper now and then. you should be able to get a polish finish just with sand papper, then when you buff with polish until black clean off with a new buff (clean cloth or buffer with no polish on it) and it will come up like mirra

[GTRgeoff]

Just grab a drill and a tapered grinding stone to start on the deeper areas and all the burrs, gently does it now, then use a flapper wheel attachment (coarse) on the drill then use a fine one with the scotchbrite in between. Then your choice is the buffing attachments for the drill or the bench grinder if lucky enough to own one. If buying a benchy then buy big and powerful NOW not later. Eventually you will have....

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/photopost...&cat=500&page=1

[predator]

messiah: yeah autosol works fairly well at polishing, in conjunction with a fast polishing buffer can work wonders. With painting, mine was never painted but once its all smooth I assume after that its fairly easy to paint using any painting method (using the appropriate heat resistant paints)

sky-chicks car is a great example... probably heaps more shiney than mine.

If it doesn't come up great, you may be better off just taking the parts of completely and taking them to a specific metal polisher (see: yellowpages).. they will probably give you a much better result than doing it manually, and saves time. Will cost you a bit of money, but generally its not much as using the proper machinery it can be done in minutes. Then you just have to worry about bolting it all back together.

[SKY031]

Once you've finished with the polishing, you can apply a clear coat, but over time the clear coat will start to turn yellowish and dull......

it's easier to leave it raw and autosol it before showing it off.

[GTRgeoff]

Or get Lanosil from Supercheap. Comes in a pressure can and keeps the shiny stuff looking good. Needs a clean now and again tho. I did the engine bay in the soarer and it looks showroom after a few days driving. Sprayed everything. Got a couple more cans now to do the other cars.