hey i have a front mount oil cooler from an 88' gxl, and it sits more forward than a stock one i used to have on on my gsl-se, people always mistake it for a FMIC, i was wondering if i could polish it to a crome state? is there at at home kit or somewhere i can send it? and how much would it cost? has anybody done it?

 

Polishing aluminum is pretty easy. Just get a buffing motor ( I use an old washing machine motor with a $5 arbor bolted on it). The supplies can be found all over. Ebay has some good deals on buffing wheels and rouge. I would be careful near the fins though.

 

have u seen it done? does it affect the cooling u think?

 

I had an SE cooler on my 84 for a while that was polished.It comes out pretty good,but be careful not to bend the fins with the polishing wheel.Its better to just polish the tanks and leave the tubes alone.
It wont affect cooling but you may have to wax the polished section to prevent corosion.

 

Or you could use a bare metal clear coat. I used a bunch of it from Eastwood when I restored my '64 MGB. That's where I got all my buffing stuff too. I use a bench grinder...not ideal, but it works.

Rich

 

got any pics?

 

If you're asking me for pics, here's my main restoration site:
http://64mgb.home.mchsi.com/

And here's some pictures of some pieces I buffed and clear-coated:
http://64mgb.home.mchsi.com/64mgb_20010114.html

 

i meant of a polished oil cooler, is it possible to polish it to the point of it looking like chrome?

 

Oh...sorry. I didn't polish my oil cooler, but I did polish aluminum. I doubt you can do much with the fins unless you want to be very meticulous and do them individually by hand. But I'm sure you could make the tanks look close to chrome. It's amazing what a buffing pad and some rouge will do to metal.

 

so u think i should invest in a dremmel?

 

Why? Want it to look like an intercooler?

 

i soaked mine in a pail of old gas for a while, that cleaned it up nice, then i scrubbed it with a plastic brush for dishes etc, came out nice
i soaked gas on the inside, to clean up the old oil im sure that helped cooling a bit, but not substancially

 

I need to read more closely...

 

I sold my polished SE cooler,so no pics.
Plus I bought it already polished so Im not sure how much work it was.It wasnt quite chrome quality,but it appeared to be a quick,dirty polish job.You can get aluminum to shine like chrome,but it takes a bit of time and some black fingers.

 

Watch out painting the cooler. If you paint the fins you will interfere with the heat transfer. They also sell a product called alumibrite. Its an acid you spray on AL then rinse off. It removes the oxidizied layer, leaving a shiny finish. Its used mostly for diamond plate, boats etc. Of course itll oxidize again so theres really no way of keeping it purty short of clearcoating, which is not good to do to the fins and tubes.

 

Thank You Carl Alumibrite sounds like exactly what I need for the engine I just bought Now where in God's name can it be found?

Jon

 

Some auto parts stores carry it. Also try a marine place.

 

Iotus polished his oil cooler on his 85 -se turbo, it turned out pretty schweet

 

and iotus isnt on here anymore is he?

 

Heres a pic of my oil cooler polished

 

heres another

 

damn dude!~ hows it look in the front? and whats ur meothed of doing the polishing