I have seen a few zeds online here with a polished oem upper plenum and liked it so I decided to do mine. Some have done them themselves others have paid around $300 to get them done professionally.

Here is some of the equipment I needed to complete this project
-Safety glasses
-respirator
-ear protection
-gloves


I bought an extra plenum to polish that way my car would still be drivable. What it looked like when I stared, rough and dirty.








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After 4 hours of using an air grinder with a 40 grit flap disk and a Rotary tool with a grinding stone. (should have took less time but even with 2 compressors I still had to wait for them to keep up)

Here is some of the equipment I needed to complete this project
-Air grinder
-40 grit flap disk
-Rotary tool with and assortment of grinding stones






On a small part of the plenum you can see I did a few more steps to see some shine, (I wanted some motivation lol)







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After another 4 hours of using an air grinder with a 80 grit flap disk and a Rotary tool with a grinding stone and 80 grit flap wheel. (should have took less time but even with 2 compressors I still had to wait for them to keep up)

Here is some of the equipment I needed to complete this project
-Air grinder
-80 grit flap disk
-Rotary tool with and assortment of grinding stones, sanding wheels and flap wheels.






On a small part of the plenum you can see I did a few more steps to see some shine, (I wanted some motivation lol)

 

After another 6 hours of using an electric orbital sander with 80 grit sand paper, 120 grit sand paper and 220 grit sand paper. A Rotary tool with a 80 grit flap wheel and wire wheel. (should have took less time but even with 2 compressors I still had to wait for them to keep up)

Here is some of the equipment I needed to complete this project
-5 inch electric orbital sander
-80 grit sand paper
-120 grit sand paper
-220 grit sand paper
-Rotary tool with and assortment sanding wheels, flap wheels and wire wheels.









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After another 3 hours of wet sanding by hand with 400 grit and 800 grit. A Rotary tool with a 80 grit flap wheel, wire wheel and sanding wheel.

Here is some of the equipment I needed to complete this project
-400 grit wet sand paper
-800 grit wet sand paper
-Rotary tool with and assortment sanding wheels, flap wheels and wire wheels.

 

After another 2 hours of using an air die grinder with a felt/cloth wheel and a black compound/bar.

Here is some of the equipment I needed to complete this project
-Air grinder
-an assortment of felt/cloth wheels
-black compound/bar

 

Polishing cast aluminum is a pain in the *****, but worth it in the end if you take-your-time.

 

Looks sexy wish hr plenum looked nice

 

i am getting there lol

 

always wanted this. good work. end result worth effort.

 

Hey how much would you charge for this?

 

the job...

- RB.

 

Looks like the Tin Man from the Wizard of OZ

 

**** should get mine done. Nice work gonna look sweet when ur finished

 

That is a ton of work, looking great so far.

 

OP should talk to smasher, he extended his polish to vtc cover & powder coated his valve cover. Dave def has one of the best looking engine bay in TO area.

 

--more pics added -- post #2 and #3

A sneak peek of things to come

 

Need more pics

 

After another 2 hours of using an air die grinder with a felt/cloth wheel and a White compound/bar.

After another 2 hours of using an air die grinder with a felt/cloth wheel and a Red compound/bar.

After another 2 hours of using an air die grinder with a felt/cloth wheel and Metal polish

--- another 6 Hours total---

Here is some of the equipment I needed to complete this project
-Air grinder
-an assortment of felt/cloth wheels
-White compound/bar
-Red compound/bar
-Metal polish



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--HERE ARE THE PICS AFTER 25 HOURS OF WORK---

 

I also polished my strut bar. The bar is made of steel not aluminum so it can rust. The bar is not on the bar and was finished 4 weeks ago. It has been stored in the garage since then and shows no signs of rust. I am thinking/hoping that if I keep a protective coating of polish on the car it will not rust. If it does rust I will sand it again and clear coat it, or just reinstall my other oem bar.


Here is some of the equipment I needed to complete this project

-5 inch electric orbital sander
-Rotary tool with and assortment sanding wheels, flap wheels and wire wheels.
-Air grinder
-an assortment of felt/cloth wheels

-220 grit sand paper
-400 grit wet sand paper
-800 grit wet sand paper
-1000 grit wet sand paper
-black compound/bar
-Red compound/bar
-Metal polish

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i am not sure how long this took me, maybe 2-4 hours total.

before and after pics

 

damn that looks clean!

 

holy **** 25 hours, you are a man of dedication

 

So how much did u pay for the spare plenum? And where did u get it a wreckers? Also would u be willing to do this again for some moolah? Also have the two pieces of an aftermarket strut bar I might want done as well. Let me know