I'm working on polishing my 2nd Z plenum and I can't get the smooth finish I got on my FD3S Upper Intake Manifold. For some reason, whether I choose to polish after a 400 grit or a 600 grit sanding, there are still some pot marks, or very fine scratches.

I'll have pictures of the final product on Sunday, but I don't think it will be great at all. Does anyone have any suggestsions?

Dan

 

there is nothing you can really do about the pitting cause thats just in the casting... the only way to get rid of it is to keep sanding that area.

400-600 is not really fine enough for a good polish, you should take it all the way to 1000 or 2000 wet sanding. then you get it lookling like chrome... if there is still scratching then its from pressing too hard when using the rough grits to get rid of the texture.

 

Try this website, they have some pretty cool stuff. I used some of it when I polished my ZX-7R frame. Looked great, I could shave in the reflection. Phunk is right you need to wet sand or use compounds to get the right finish.
http://www.eastwoodco.com/Department...Specialty+Kits

 

You're probably right. I think with my previous UIM i stopped at 800 and used white rouge and tripoli compounds.

This manifold just seems so much harder to me. I'll probably re-sand some parts with 60 grit and see how it comes out. I'm hoping to have the sanding done sunday, and hopefully I'll have some time to polish it tuesday. Thanks for the input.

Dan

 

I am doing the same thing..I used a 4" sanding wheel on a drill with 80 grit to get all the texture out then an abrasive wheel to sand out the scratches..I am now moving on to an abrasive polish on a muslin wheel and the work to the white rouge...

 

Yea I just ordered some abrasive compounds to finish the job. I'll remove the rest of the castings with 80 grit compound then move progressively up to 600 grit compound. Then I'll go over it with some 1000 grit and 1500 grit sandpaper. After that I'll use the rouge and tripoli. If it doesn't come out chrome after that, I give up.

Ezduzit - thanks for the site. Do you have any experience using those greaseless compounds?

 

Ezduzit - thanks for the site. Do you have any experience using those greaseless compounds? [/B][/QUOTE]

I used 1000 grit and finished with a variable speed polisher with 3M's Finesse-it.. This stuff is for paint surfaces and did a great job on my frame.. Like i said, a mirror. Here is another site with all kinds of compounds and glazes including the Finesse-it.
http://www.levineautoparts.com/comandglaz.html

 

I just finished polishing my manifold it took forever!!! i started with 50 grit and worked my way down to 400 grit then started to polish with emery polish then tripoli then white rouge it looks pretty good just keep at it the longer you work at it the better the finished project.

 

pics people pics!

-B-

 

You did notice that the first 7 posts are from back in Jan of 2004, huh?

 

You did notice that post 8 is from like a week ago, huh?

he said he finished it. im asking HIM for pix.. maybe YOU should read the thread more closely....

-B-

 

Yes, I did notice that, hence my "first 7 posts". But you asked for "pics PEOPLE pics" , not "pics doskiez pics". That sounded like you wanted everybody in the thread who did a polished plenum to post pics, not just doskiez.

 

^ hes right you know... ha

 

i was aiming my post at the one person who posted lately but figured id bump just in case the other people who were posting in the thread earlier may had finidshed theirs and forgot to take pics.. never know if people are still active members..

simple misunderstanding, just sounded like u were tyring to be a bit sarcastic in ur first post...

 

I was jerking your chain a little. A lot of people post replies to ancient threads and then can't understand why they don't get much of a response. I'd bet half of those previous posters in this thread are no longer active on the board.

 

probably

 

Here's a couple of mine...

 

thats pretty polished. i like it!

 

I have to admit - I didn't polish it myself. I bought one off of eBay that I was going to try polishing. I started out with some rough sand paper, sanding disk, wheels, etc. It didn't take me long to realize that it was going to take a lot more tools and supplies than I had handy. When I really dug into it, I realized that it was going to spend more in time and supplies than it would have cost me to get it done elsewhere. I found a guy who polished it for $165.