polished aluminum?

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polished aluminum?

March 29, 2006, 01:02:15 PM

ok I've been messing with the idea of polishing some of the parts on my car. My question is this,,,,, How do you get the mirror finish on the flat surfaces? On the convex surfaces I have them to where you can see yourself in them. The flat surfaces of things though look slightly cloudy. Anyone know why?

polished aluminum?

Reply #1 – March 29, 2006, 01:15:33 PM

There are a lot of factors that can cause it. For example, the metal may not produce a mirror shine. A friend of mine had some aftermarket LS1 wheels on his Z28. The aluminum was very low quality. He even tried to wet-sand and repolish them, but they still looked very cloudy.
What exactly are you polishing, and what steps and products are you using?

polished aluminum?

Reply #2 – March 29, 2006, 01:25:36 PM

Well Im polishing my lower intake at the moment. And believe it or not Im using a dremel with a homemade sanding thing on it thats at like 400 grit. Its taking forever but the parts that really shine are worth the extra time. The rounded parts around where the upper plenum hooks on look like a mirror. the flat area's next to them are cloudy you can see reflections in it and tell what it is but its not perfect. Lets see the steps so far that Ive found that work are.
1) sanding it smooth with 180- 220 grit paper.
2) switching to a higher grit paper 220-340 grit.
3) going over more with 400 grit.
4) Polishing with Meguiars aluminum polish.
It's not the best thought out system but it works without spending extra money on tools. Im wondering if maybe Im just not using a fine enough sand paper on it. I tried a wire brush attachment lightly but it left marks and made it worse. Would really really really fine steel wool work? I know it works on furniture but Im really really new at the metal stuff?

polished aluminum?

Reply #3 – March 29, 2006, 01:33:23 PM

Sure. Try hitting it with #000 steel wool before using a compound.
You may consider 1000 grit sandpaper even before that.

I use similar steps, but sometimes it's not even necessary. For example, I went over my EGR valve with a Scotch-Brite pad, then I worked it over for 20 minutes with Mother's Mag & Aluminum Polish (great stuff).
This is the result:

I used the same method on an AC line on my old 5.0 XR7. It looked awesome... then it started to rust. :)

Try messing around with different stuff. It's well worth the outcome!

polished aluminum?

Reply #4 – March 29, 2006, 01:37:31 PM

well Ive found that on my intake which to specify is the stock HO lower intake. Probably not worth the time to polish it but, Ive noticed that the polishing compounds leave a blackish film on it. no matter what I do I cant get it off there. Leaves it almost a gunmetal blue color. The stuff Im using for polish I was wrong a second ago, its been a long three days, is the Mother's Mag and aluminum polish. Got it at wal mart for like 4 bucks its making it look real good except for that haze on it. I'd take a picture but Im not sure the haze would show up on it. I guess I could try though

polished aluminum?

Reply #5 – March 29, 2006, 01:48:05 PM

here it is if you look you can see the discoloration on the flat.

you can still see alot of reflection in it though

polished aluminum?

Reply #6 – March 29, 2006, 01:53:28 PM

ok so if I keep polishing it with that polish for like 20 or 30 minutes will it make it clearer?

polished aluminum?

Reply #7 – March 29, 2006, 02:13:02 PM

Maybe, maybe not.

There's one way to find out. :D

polished aluminum?

Reply #8 – March 29, 2006, 02:20:55 PM

I think I'll try it after I finally get some descent sleep. When I get the intake a little more presentable I'll have to post some pics of it and show it off.:D