Polishing a TPI intake-

[KANE]

:ugh

:cry

:W

Ugh, wahhhh, and running crazy really describes what you feel like when polishing a set of SLP runners and an upper plenum.

Anyone else do this? What did you use (rotary sander, regular sand paper, etc.)?

(I'm building my EFI system for a car I am building- one piece at a time!)

 

[diesel1456]

polishing intake and runners

Yea it's a lot of fun, it took me hrs and hrs and days and i still did not get them the way i really would of liked them. I used a dremel to get in the tight spots and to sand down the rough stuff,then i used the fine wet or dry black sandpaper with some fritz and other polishing compounds it looks much better but a lot of work.
Have fun Rich

 

[KANE]

Yea it's a lot of fun, it took me hrs and hrs and days and i still did not get them the way i really would of liked them. I used a dremel to get in the tight spots and to sand down the rough stuff,then i used the fine wet or dry black sandpaper with some fritz and other polishing compounds it looks much better but a lot of work.
Have fun Rich

Thanks Rich! I was hoping there was a quicker way...
:duh

Have fun

Yeah. I'm gonna need a lot of this-

 

[AdvancedAutoCC]

:ugh

:cry

:W

Ugh, wahhhh, and running crazy really describes what you feel like when polishing a set of SLP runners and an upper plenum.

Anyone else do this? What did you use (rotary sander, regular sand paper, etc.)?

(I'm building my EFI system for a car I am building- one piece at a time!)

It's not THAT bad...just tedious. I did a set for a customer and had about 10 solid hours of work. The trick is to use varying grits of sandpaper(progressively finer, starting with 80 grit), then wetsand with 1200, then use a polishing wheel. You can then final polish with Flitz, Zoops, etc. It's dull and boring work, but the trick is not to rush...

 

[vetteboy86]

Anyone have some finished pics?

 

[AdvancedAutoCC]

Anyone have some finished pics?

http://www.advancedautocc.com/html/racing___high_performance.html

Run your mouse over the picture for a closeup

 

[speedmaster4]

when you start to polish anything that is ''sand'' cast, you first need to remove the extremely thin outer skin of aluminum silicate that forms when the molten aluminum encounters the sand mold...aluminum silicate is the same thing the grinding wheel on your bench grinder is made from...attacking this stuff with sandpaper is not highly satisfying...i use a carbide burr in a die grinder to lightly smooth the surface and remove the thin silicate layer before moving to sandpaper...saves a ton of time

p.s. i was warned but it didnt help--polishing aluminum is a disease--once you start you end up polishing everything in the shop--i'll get well some day

 

[ZumZum]

I bought a whole other intake (base, runners, plenum) so I could polish that set and still drive my car. I figured this way I can take my time. But, I'm already thinking about taking it to a local shop that does powder coating and going that route instead.

Questions:

Does anybody have pics of a powder coated intake?
and
Does anybody know if you can get an intake bead blasted to help shine it up?

 

[AdvancedAutoCC]

I bought a whole other intake (base, runners, plenum) so I could polish that set and still drive my car. I figured this way I can take my time. But, I'm already thinking about taking it to a local shop that does powder coating and going that route instead.

Questions:

Does anybody have pics of a powder coated intake?
and
Does anybody know if you can get an intake bead blasted to help shine it up?

Bead blasting will make it look clean and bright, but not shiny. Powdercoating is another option that's alright.

 

[ZumZum]

THanks!!

 

[Vettefan87]

Yeah I think I am going to black out my motor instead of polishing it, plenum, runners, intake, valve covers. All powdercoated black
​

 

[Edmond]

http://www.advancedautocc.com/html/racing___high_performance.html

Run your mouse over the picture for a closeup

Wow, that looks very nice. I also checked out the TPI bolt kit, that is cool. I'll have to pick up a set of those when I re-do my car because the torx bolts are horrible! It seems like they strip very easily.

 

[AdvancedAutoCC]

Thanks for the kind words....

When you want some TPI hardware, drop me a PM... I'll take $5 off for my CAC bruthas. I'm currently working on a set specifically for SLP runners (the lower bolts are hella hard to find in stainless...but I've finally got some coming).

 

[ZumZum]

Those SS TPI bolts are niiiiice! I'll definetly be in touch when I'm ready to install my other setup.

 

[KANE]

1/3 of the way there!!!

Well, the plenum is (almost) done! All it needs is a good polish with a cloth wheel and a good compound.

View attachment 9824

What do you think of the difference so far? One runner is still in the natural sand cast, the other is machine sanded.

 

[KANE]

50%!

Almost there... the plenum is done! I'm going to use an abrasive brush on the back where the distributor cover goes- it doesn't need to be perfect there because no one ever sees it!

The runners are ready for a serious buffing! I've finished the 400 grit and lightly hit them with steel wool. I am waiting on the distributor cover to come in... then I will hit that one too!

I'm going to port the upper siamesed portion of the runners. Any ideas on how deep I should go and how much I should remove? I found this on another website- is this too much?

http://chevythunder.com/SLP_runners2.jpg

 

[KANE]

Well, any ideas? Is the picture above too much?

 

[Edmond]

Well, any ideas? Is the picture above too much?

I'd like to know myself. I think that I've read before that you'd like to go 1-1.5" in on the siamese. But don't hold me to that.

 

[Mad-Mic]

I'd like to know myself. I think that I've read before that you'd like to go 1-1.5" in on the siamese. But don't hold me to that.

Edmond is right 1.5" for the most part.

 

[Powdercoater]

powder coating

If I could figuar out how to post a pic I would of the one I just did on my 84...btw I use alumnum Oxide for blasting..