350Z400rwhp

iTrader: (4)

Ok so I wanted to share my experience with sanding / polishing my manifold. I have found that the best tool for this is a 5" disk with a foam pad and a hard back plate that attaches to a drill. I found this at Autozone or Advanced in the automobile paint department. I bought some adhesive spray for sandpaper to sanding disks. I bought this from NAPA it sprays a red sticky liquid (Called Disc Adhesive Item # 4085) and it is a must have as it keeps the sandpaper stuck with the pad even when you are "wet sanding". I found that my Dremmel and a nice Dremmel kit for sanding and buffing has come in handy too. The rest is best done by hand. I have read a lot on here about people using 1000 /1500 and even 2000 grit sandpaper to wet sand their manifolds to the smoothest possible surface and the polish. Through research and experience I have found that it is not necessary to go over 600 grit sandpaper during the wet sanding process. Anything higher will make the surface extremely smooth but will cause a discolored glaze to form. After this point buffing with compound should take care of the final smoothing for preperation of the polishing process. I bought a Craftsman Buffing Wheel Compound set from Sears for like $8. I plan on using a 4" spiral woven buffing wheel that attaches to a drill and the Tripoli (Brown) from the Craftsman Compound set. Then I plan to finish with a 4" Flannel Polishing wheel that attaches to my drill and White Rouge (White) compound also from the Craftsman Compound set. I spent about $250 on tools, sandpaper, flap wheels, wire kits, Dremmel kits, buffing wheels, ect. I even bought an Angle Grinder but it spins way too fast and is too hard to control. Many times I asked myself is this really worth it? I know that I could of just had it done by a professional for about $300. I did buy a lot of tools and stuff that I kind of wanted anyway (i.e. Angle Grinder) and that now I can use for other projects so I wouldn't say the $250 was a total waste. I bet everything needed to sand and polish your Manifold could be purchased for around $50 though (Assuming you already own a drill that will run at least 1500 rpm). I had to take clearcoat off my Manifold (Crawford) but the stock manifold you will need to remove a heavy textured surface. Just use 180 grit sandpaper on the 5" disk and dry sand until you reach a point where the pits/texture and casting marks are gone. Then move to 240 grit and dry sand again. Hand sand and use a Dremmel in the tight areas with both the 180 and 240 grit sandpaper also. Then move into wet sanding with 320 grit, then 400 grit (I have found that if you move in one direction, I choose to go diagnoly across the face of my manifold as it seems to cause a grain to form and it's best to make it look organized and professional) If needed 600 grit is ok but I wouldn't go any higher. I probably have spent about 50 hours experimenting and working to figuring out the best process for this. Overall I would expect this job to take about 20 hours so it is best to break these steps up into many 2 or 3 hour sessions. Again I am not claiming I am an expert on this but this is just a collection of my experiences and research I have done online about sanding and polishing aluminum. Hopefully this will save some of you guys some money and frustration when trying to buy the necessary tools and supplies as there are really no stores that sell metal polishing kits unless you buy online. I will try to update when I am done as I am just at the 320 "wet sand" step in the picture I have posted (The full manifold pic) the rest are just pics that I took during the experimenting process of this. Oh and now the last pic is after buffing, now it's time to polish! Good Luck!

zbrid

I used a vibrator sander & a dremmel and a buffing wheel!! you have to buff it to get the mirror finish (chrome look ) I used mothers polish . when buffing. I started out with hundred grit went to 400 grit. Standing just gets smooth, and gets the scratches and pits out. Buffing does the finish

350Z400rwhp

iTrader: (4)

I have seen your pic before on some threads I have searched, it looks great! Do you have to use water and wet sand it? Every time I try to apply a polish to mine it seems to just get dirty like no matter how much I try to clean the surface there is always more residue (metal dust). Right now I guess I am somewhat happy with my brushed aluminum look but I really really like the look of yours. Am I opening a whole can of worms and hours and hours of labor to get to the point of where yours is? I assume a lot of the tight areas will have to be hand sanded.

350Z400rwhp

iTrader: (4)

Oh by the way here is a step by step guide on polishing. He seems to do the final work with different finishing wheels for a drill. http://www.poleringsguide.se/english/

gothchick

iTrader: (12)

Very nice!! :-)

350Z400rwhp

iTrader: (4)

Well I am making good progress. I have found out that the best tool for the job is the flap wheel type sander that works with a drill. I tried a palm sander but it is too difficult to get into uneven areas. I have went to Lowes, Home Depot, NAPA, Autozone etc. and nobody seems to carry these flap wheel sanders. The one I have is like a 360 grit and wearing out. I wish I could find some finer grit and smaller sizes to get into all the nooks. Does anyone know where I can find these? Thanks!

zbrid

At first I was buff it with the mother Powerball (Hooks to a drill ) And all i could come up with was the stainless steel look, then I took my high speed buffing wheel to it & then I started to see the look of chrome. the polish always turns black just keep buffing it then wipe it off with a rag.

350Z400rwhp

iTrader: (4)

That is exactly what is happening for me. No matter how much I wipe it down, every time I add polish it turns black. Good to hear that is normal though. I am very happy with my results so far and I am starting to get that "chrome" look. I will just keep polishing and wiping clean until it gets to that point. I will say that this is a job that at first it seems like it is going to be fairly easy but getting in all the tight areas with sandpaper and getting rid of all the pits is a lot of work. I have probably invested about 15 hours thus far. So if you don't have patience or a lot of time I wouldn't attempt this job. I will post a sequence of pics and try to help explain the process I took. Thanks for the help everyone!

zbrid

I have about 20 hours in it. But I enjoy doing it I just work on it a couple hours a day, my car is in the garage for the winter storage so there is no dowm time!!

Can't wait to put it back together, I ordered a carbon fiber engine cover, and I'm waiting on that!! And I'm putting in the 5/16" spacer too. It should look awesome! my cold air intake is chrome & carbon fiber too!... About two weeks ago I put on a all stainless steel exhaust system (Injen ses) sounds great!!.... I'll post a pic of my engine when it all back together for ya.

Good luck

zbrid

Here is my new look under my hood.

How is your manifold coming along??

taurran

iTrader: (18)

Thanks for the guide. I've been planning on polishing my own intake/intercooler piping for a while and this will come in handy.

Does anyone have any other useful guides they've come across?

350Z400rwhp

iTrader: (4)

Just Updated with new info and a pic.

gothchick

iTrader: (12)

Looking good! :-)

350Z400rwhp

iTrader: (4)

The last pic is after I buffed it with Tripoli. The next pic I will post will be the final polish with White Rouge.

350Z400rwhp

iTrader: (4)

Well I'm done, just posted the final pic.

ZU L8R

iTrader: (84)

Very nice job

SmoothZ

iTrader: (13)

Man, that looks great! It's inspiring me to get mine done.

zbrid

Looks good, good job

cbr900son

iTrader: (4)

I started polishing my manifold too and after 8 hrs and starting in on all the nooks i found this to use with my dremmel and some buffig and polishing tips
http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/p...iProductID=983

350Z400rwhp

iTrader: (4)

Thanks A lot guys! Oh and CBRson I have heard about those greasless compounds, they seem cool. I might have to try those when I polish my throttel body!