aluminum intake cosmetics

[Jemison Richard]

Hi James.

I happen to have a lot of experience with home grown polishing.  You can
make yourself a polishing rig out of a dryer motor, a 2 x 12 (I clamp my
setup to the workbench - that way I can remove it when I'm not polishing), 2
- 2inch x 1/8" pieces of angle iron 20-24" long, 2 pillow block bearings
with 1/2 - 3/4" dia inside dia and a bar of steel (I'd suggest about 24 -28"
long).   

To make a long story short - basically you need to find someone with a lathe
to turn down the ends down to about 1/2" and thread the ends for you.    The
shaft goes through the bearings (which are bolted to the angle iron and
therefore the board.  The angle iron needs 4 slots (I made mine about 3
inches long each and used 7/16" hardware - so the slot needs to be 7/16" or
a smiggin' larger).  This allows adjustment for the fan belt that connects
the motor to the shaft.  Then you need (forgot to list 2 pulleys) - actually
I've got 4  - 2", 3", 4" and 6" which gives me a lot of different ratios.
Basically though I use 2 and 2   and 2 and 4 the most so 3 pulleys would get
you by.   

Buffs - I use 6" x 1/2", 8" x 1/2",  with widths of 1/2" and 1".   I use
almost exclusively spiral sewn cotton buffs.  I get what I want with them
and it saves me money.  I also mix compounds on the same buff - AHhhhh!
Yea, if you're independently wealthy then go a buff for each compound - I
can't afford it and I get the results I want (at least on aluminum and
stainless steel).  

Compounds, I use emery (the coarsest), stainless compound, tripoli, white
and red jeweler's rouge.   Over time I've whittled this down to stainless,
white and red.    I use emery for really terrible looking motorcycle cases.
cleans them up fast so I can get moving.

For your intake manifolds though - you need more.   I have a electric die
grinder (about 14" long and weighs about 3-4 pounds).  Sucker gets heavy as
you use it.   You use a mandrel and cotton cone buffs with this thing.   I
use white rouge and jewelers with this thing.  Anything coarser leaves a
finish that doesn't match the coloring I get with the other wheels (this
thing turns very fast).  You have to use this to get down in all those
little places.  Believe it or not, I do not have to use this anywhere to
polish the cases of any motorcycle case I've ever done.   Can do it all with
6" buffs!  So you picked a tough piece to learn on.

Hope it helps.  BTW, once you get the hang of it - it should take about 3
hours to have that intake manifold looking perfect!   Like a mirror!

I'm actually working on an article on how to make one of these setups on my
web page http://www.geocities.com/Pipeline/Dropzone/8979 but just haven't
quite got it done!   It should be out there in a month or so though.

rick

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	James Weiler [SMTP:james at brc.ubc.ca]
> Sent:	Thursday, March 04, 1999 2:01 AM
> To:	diy_efi at efi332.eng.ohio-state.edu
> Subject:	aluminum intake cosmetics
> 
> 
> Sorry about the non-EFI question but it's sort of related. I need some
> advice
> on how to best preserve the good looks of a freshly glass beaded intake
> manifold.  Alot of people are saying stay away from clear coat as it will
> chip and flake off, supposedly it doesn't stick well to aluminum.  (?)
> I've also been told about powder coating but was wondering if there were
> any pros or cons to that too?
> 
> Should I just leave it alone?  Polishing would be ideal but I
> refuse to spend a couple $100 over cosmetics (spend a whole day doing it
> myself is ok however).
> As usual any and all advice is much appreciated.
> cheers,
> jw
> 
> P.S. If anybody can give me any tips on how to polish in the tight areas
> of an intake then I might try my hand at it.  I assume I need I die
> grinder (will a dremmel drill do?) but don't know what I need for buffing
> pads or where to get them.