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Home polished intake

1

1 QUIK6

Well-Known Member
When my engine builder spray painted my engine block he didn't mask my intake and valve covers. I was unhappy about the overspray but they were looking a little tarnished anyways so I was inspired to make some appearance improvements while the engine was out.

I was going to have them jet-hot coated but I needed to smooth the rough casting for a smooth jet-hot finish anyways. My brother bought me a polished upper plenum for Christmas so I decided to take a shot at home polishing. I really wanted the lower to match the upper and sending my parts to a pro was going to cost $650 or more.

So far this job has definately been a learning experience. It is not done, when you see it up close in person it still has inperfections. If fact even when it gets re-installed it will probably still have a few flaws but I feel I'm making progress.

I've spent $40 in dremel attachments/sanding disks and probably 20 hours of my time. I've actually been enjoying the project and I'm learning a lot! Here are a couple of pics!
 

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WOW!! Looks awesome!! :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup: Get real good at it and I'll send you mine! :) I would just take your time and really make that thing look awesome. Once it's on the car your never going to want to take it off again that's for sure! You might also want to look into having it clear powder coated. Polishing something looks great but it don't last to long. I would think you'll need a nice high heat clear or it will also yellow on you if you spray bomb it clear. I did that to all my AC stuff on my GN. Polished it to glass like finish and then had it all clear coated and it all looks like it was done yesterday 3 years later! Good luck with it either way and keep us updated! I like it!!
 
I had really thought about clearing it. Problem is I don't know where to stop. I've got sooo much polished aluminum going on now that I'd almost have to clear everything.

I'm installing a polished custom MAF pipe, up-pipe, upper plenum, lower intake, valve covers, turbo, and turbo shield. I think I'm just destined to be polishing stuff before every car show.

I'll try to post a pic of the valve covers next. I can't beleive how well those are turning out. They have less intricate detail and have so far been taking a fraction of the time.

Thanks for the compliments,

Eric
 
Here are the pictures of my valve covers as promised. I probably spent a total of 2 hours to sand and polish the one cover. I'll probably spend another half hour making a few touchups but I thought it was really worth while!

I've been dragging my feet on the pass side cover because I was still really hopeful I'd find another drivers side cover. Anyone???

I've got a friend now that wants to try do-it-yourself powdercoating. I might try clearing this stuff and see how it goes. Worst case scenario I'll sand them back down and start over again.
 

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Looking good! Now get a real camera and take some nice clear pics! :) The clear coat should be awesome with your buddy's powder coating set up he's going to get. My friend has the home set up from Eastwood and it works great. The only thing putting clear powder on the polished stuff is it will dull it down just a tiny bit. So just take a little extra time to make it super shiny and you should be fine. The nice part is if you clear it several years from now you'll be thanking your self! I've seen polished stuff get hazy and look like crap in just a year!
 
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