Printable View
Was thinking of polishing my aluminum intake with the Eastwood kit.
Has anyone ever done it themselves?
Is it alot of work...? Say more then 8 hours?
How did it look?
Did the shine last?
Or should I just send it out?
Thanks, I would hate to open a big can of worms here....
Surprisingly easy actually. Mine is already polished, but I polished the rear houseing and a few other aluminum parts I made for the rear end. I split a 1/4" rod with a hack saw to hold a strip of emery cloth. Used it in a drill to get into the tight spots. Then used finer and finer sand paper. Then used rubbing compound and polishing compound to finish it off. I bought some of those inexpensive yellow gloves to do the final polishing. To me they work better than trying to hold onto a little piece of cloth while trying to get in tight spots. Worked for me. :D
I did my heads, intake, alt. and water pump on my lt1, used the stuff from eastwood(I think I bought everything he had) spent about 400.00, took me 40 hrs. and it lasted about 6 mo. if I ever think about doing something like that again I hope someone, takes me outback and shoots me. I'm gonna get Pro 70 to do it.Quote:
Originally posted by Rugratman
Was thinking of polishing my aluminum intake with the Eastwood kit.
Has anyone ever done it themselves?
Is it alot of work...? Say more then 8 hours?
How did it look?
Did the shine last?
Or should I just send it out?
Thanks, I would hate to open a big can of worms here....
you asked! :whacked: just a intake want be to bad. :HMMM:
ahhhhh, I'd like to Mike but i've got this bad elbow. Reeealy been giving me problems lately. :whacked:
I hear you, it gave me a pain in the butt. everybody ought to try it one time. :LOL:Quote:
Originally posted by pro70z28
ahhhhh, I'd like to Mike but i've got this bad elbow. Reeealy been giving me problems lately. :whacked:
It1S10 has it right.
I did my BB Chevy intake and water pump. Each, especially the intake, has lots of tiny, hard to get to corners and angles etc. It kicked my butt. A rear end housing would be relatively easy.
My polish job ain't exactly show quality either (see kitz in gallery). But it looks good from a few feet. In the end I got it as far as my patience would allow. At least 40 hrs in the both of them.
Then I clear coated it with clear engine paint. That dulled it ever so slightly but I think it will hold up for a longer time.
Next time I will buy my stuff already polished.
Good Luck! Kitz
i've found a good look with aluminum parts is cleaning it up a little bit, spraying it a couple layers of bumper chrome, make sure to not let it fully dry each time you spray, then spray 2 layers of clear coat while still just a lil wet, and if you do it right, it comes out with a brushed aluminum look.... looks great on engine parts.... maybe i'll put up a few pics later to give you an idea...
Or you can have it powdercoated (and Eastwood sells this stuff too). There are colors that match various shades of aluminum.
I want to run a fine line between shiney and a stock 'look'. I don't want to polish the engine every 6 months (or less) if I don't have to, and I still want the engine to look great. I think my solution is powdercoat and chrome.
i have did alot of aluminun stuff did a lot of the prep work on the gm concept showcar wheels. the flapper works good like PRO said i use this alot and it cheap i have use this way to polish the valleys in big blocks and head work to. look at enco sell alot of stuff to do it . mx wheels work great to
if i can't paint it , chrome it or powdercoat it, its not gonna get done.Quote:
Originally posted by Swifster
Or you can have it powdercoated (and Eastwood sells this stuff too). There are colors that match various shades of aluminum.
I want to run a fine line between shiney and a stock 'look'. I don't want to polish the engine every 6 months (or less) if I don't have to, and I still want the engine to look great. I think my solution is powdercoat and chrome.
It definitely depends on the look you want. I always like a 'mechanical', machine type of look to an engine. Some like the engine to look like a piece of jewelry, and if that's what they like, more power to them. To me, it's a machine, and I want the engine and the rest of the driveline to reflect that. It doesn't mean I don't want it to look good. But to me solid chrome is boring. Texture and color add a lot to the engine compartment.
rugratman, take heed. Gary got the bad elbow from polishing!Quote:
Originally posted by pro70z28
ahhhhh, I'd like to Mike but i've got this bad elbow. Reeealy been giving me problems lately. :whacked:
I've polished a couple intakes and my TPI parts,LOTS of work!!
I'll powdercoat next time!
He's trying to have it both ways, :HMMM: pro is telling rugratman, no big deal, but he can't do no more polishing on the count of a bad elbow. :confused: :LOL: I think he wants someone else to have a bad elbow. :D when you get ready to do this rugratman, I have a lot of this stuff left over, you can have cheap. the reason I don't have a bad elbow is I let the drills do the work. :cool:Quote:
Originally posted by techinspector1
rugratman, take heed. Gary got the bad elbow from polishing!
I never thought of powder coating the intake......Good idea.
I have a Offenhauser intake, that I just got. To say they have a very basic finish is a understatement....It will flow great, but looks like it was sitting on a shelf for 30 years, even though it's brand new.
I will look into the powder coating, I was going to spend a couple $$ on the eastwood kit anyway, I will put the money towards it.
Glad I asked. I thought 8 hours was to much.
Misery loves company. ................. I don't know what that means.:LOL: :LOL:
Just a thought, why would you want to spend all that time and
money polishing when you can buy 1 of Edelbrocks endurashine
or permashine intakes for around $200.00 and they look great.
If this is your first rod u must polish:LOL: ,nuthin like polishin aluminium for what seems like eternity and havin some one look at it and say man that is nice!!!!Then the next time u open the hood there aint nuthin like the mad your gunna get when its all oxidized and powdery:eek:
and then it looks worse than it did before you did all that work.:CRY:Quote:
Originally posted by shawnlee28
If this is your first rod u must polish:LOL: ,nuthin like polishin aluminium for what seems like eternity and havin some one look at it and say man that is nice!!!!Then the next time u open the hood there aint nuthin like the mad your gunna get when its all oxidized and powdery:eek:
I just called a powder coating company. They quoted me about $150.00 for bright silver / polished metal color...
I will look at it and see what it looks like and probably go this route.
I will let you know, Repolishing the intake is something I would like to avoid, if I don't like it, I will blast it off and polish it.
The offey intake is really a rough casting, Endurashine is not a option, as it's only available on SOME of the edelbrock intakes.
i would sand it to get it smooth and then get it coated it will look much better. what is the color of red that is on your goat looks like the same as my goat:HMMM:
I don’t know if this counts, it wasn’t my intake that I polished. But I polished this one intake one time, and she turned out real nice. You have to be careful not to stay in one spot too long.
Let me see, I should have a few pictures of ‘er........
Sorry, I don’t know how to post pictures.
My car is Torch Red. Chevy color.
I would love to see the pic's Typhoon, email me
Kenscarpet1@verizon.net.
I am putting a dual quad intake on the car, Holley 4106's so, messing with the intake later will be a pain in the a**.
also, we have bead blasted a manifold and then had it powder coated clear. The clear discolored slightly after it was on the engine but it kept the nice, raw cast aluminum look.
mike in tucson
my goat is ppg hot red in the sun it is a eye burner and the cops love it to? they love to follow me all the time :HMMM: may be it is the 4 inch EX:whacked: yes ppg dau75 work good for clear on intakes
Sweet ride, I like the painted bumpers.
I'm new here, no other Pontiac guy's here?
The Pontiac thread is dead.
4 inch? wow.
I ran 3 inch with Dougs headers and electric cut outs.....:3dSMILE:
thanks the painted bumpers have been that way for 20 +years .i think i may be a black sheep my goat runs a big block donovan base off the chevy big block. i like to go to the car show to watch the pontiac guys cry:3dSMILE:
Yea, that's a sin for sure.
here is a block i did. i do all my blocks with home made flap wheel did look better when first done over 10 years ago
Wow, looks nice.
I dropped off my intake at the powder coaters this morning, I am having a brushed aluminum coats color. then a clear coat. $150.00. Not bad. No maintance required after the clear is applied. I will post pic's when done.
I've been there and cone that. Polishing an intake is NOT the way to go. Buy it that way.
someone mentioned bumper chrome, with a clear coat. I tried that, and ended up with a very deep, aluminum look. Not what I was looking for, but some liked it. one thing: be sure to use an epoxy primer, else the bumper chrome will rust through in time.
Pat that block is a work of art! That sure must have been lots of work. I seem to enjoy the pain of polishing parts to. I've done intakes, timing covers, dizzy's, aircleaners, valve covers, rocker oil drainback tins, head chambers etc... while it is tedious work the finished product is well worth the effort. Aluminum is easy to work with and polish. A intake fully polished takes me less than a week spending 2-3 hrs a night. I just do it in my spare time and mostly my own parts. I'm waiting on a tunnel ram from a bud of mine to do next. Should be fun. LOL....G.