I finally decided to take off my intake manifold and polish it. Thanks to Chris from the forum for the help!! This thing is killing me. Ive been working on it for two days now and a total of more than 7 hours. I am still going back and forth between dremel, 80 grit and 150 grit sandpaper. It doesnt look bad but still needs a LOT of work. Anyone have any suggestions/pointers for me that will cut down on the time it will take to do this project? I want to drive again!!!... Cant wait for the finished product!

-Mike

 

Yes, send it to Twinturboteddy, hehe.

 

Yea here is my suggestion .... Be patient. You need to take this all the way down through 220 320 400 600 1200 and finaly 1500. then you get to put it on the buffer. Some good hand polishes that worked well for me were Mothers mag polish and Semicrome which is really good **** you can get it at most motorcycle shops
Have fun with the up keep

 

Drop it off at the harley dealership

 

How was the removal of the UIM? I am considering taking mine off to polish while I change my injectors and hoses.

Any advice?

 

I did't do the polishing to our $2002 Challenge car but my teammate did. He roughed it all out with pretty coarse sandpaper, maybe 200 grit at the finest.

He bought a polisher, really a used 1hp motor that runs at 1750rpm (i think) at an Army surplus type place and an arbor extension. After you have that set-up you need a couple polishing wheels (buy at Lowe's) and some polishing compound. The rough polishing compound will take some serious scratches out.

You don't need to go crazy with the sanding, wet sanding with 400+ grit is too much.

Here are some pics of the engine and wheels, follow TII link:

http://community.webshots.com/user/turbojeff

I've also got some really good pics of my FD engine compartment that'll I'll try and upload. I had the polishing done at a shop though...

Jeff

 

I added some pics of my polished intake on my 93 R1.

http://community.webshots.com/user/turbojeff

Check 'em out.

Jeff

 

That FD has the cleanes engine bay I've ever seen. How long did it take you to clean it up like that?

Jeremy

 

Hmmmm... Thanks for the advise. Maybe im wasting too much time with all the sanding. Ill try and polish one little part and see how it turns out.

 

I cleaned it before I installed the polished stuff. It is really very simple and I hear a lot of questions just like yours. Everyone try some Castrol Super Clean and a garden hose. Don't leave the Super Clean on for more than a few minutes though. After I'm done with the major gunk I wash the engine compartment and under side of the hood with a rag.

Now with the polished parts I have to dry them before I drive the car. SUper Clean is a no-no with polished stuff too.

Jeff

 

I just removed my UIM today and am starting to polish it. I have polished a few things before, and they look good, but i am wondering how to get them real shinney. I can get it nice but it doesn't look real bright. any tips would be helpful.

 

I've always thought that garden hose and engine bay wouldn't mix. Can you explain how to use it carefully so as to not ruin anything?

 

Who's your daddy?

 

 

Good lord Teddy! Those make my manifold look like a zitty ***. How much are you getting to do that anyway?

 

HAHAHA!!! lol... "sweatshop.jpg"
thats some funny **** teddy.

 

Thanks Gordon. I have those supplies just havent used them yet. It seems to me that I still need to sand some of these scratches out. If im having trouble sanding them out then i dont see how the buffer will be able to get them out. I still need to test buff a little spot to see just how far I am away from the final stages. I made a lot of progress yesterday though. I smoothed out those stupid lips on both sides(i guess from the mold) and sanded the whole piece pretty good.

-Mike

 

This is the kicker, if the car is stock YOU DON'T NEED TO BECAREFUL. Just hose it like a madman, use a toothbrush, rag, lots of water. If you scrub a lot of grit into the toothbrush/rag you will scratch stuff up.

I've had 8 FDs and lots of other types of cars, hosing off the engine compartment has only lead to a couple wet distributor caps ('86 Tempo and '64 VW bug) which is very easy to fix, just remove it and dry it off.

Everyone get some Castrol Super Clean and a hose and clean your engine bay!!! I hose the engine first, don't get any on your outer fenders. Spray engine and rinse fairly quickly. Repeat to get the tough spots and maybe try something like a brush to loosen the dirt/grease on the motor. I used a slightly diluted Super Clean for the underside of the hood (painted part) and other painted parts of the engine compartment.

Teddy,

Those manifolds look good! Do you do that or did you have it done?

I had that unused screw boss cut off the back side of the manifold and ground down smooth. I haven't ever seen it used on any US FDs.

The outer intake runners have a little "feature" right before the upper and lower manifolds meet that interrupts the tube like appearance of the casting. I had that ground off and polished smooth. It is kinda hard to see in the pics of my engine.

Good luck!
Jeff

 

Damn TurboTeddy, howd u teach those little girls to polish like that???? Talk to me, i really want it polished lik that. Can you do my elbow and alternator also????

 

so shiny~ gotta get my thing polished too....

hey TTT, how much do u charge and how long does it take?

 

I recently finished polishing mine. It was a pain in the ***. I don't know the names of the product I used, but they were little scotch brite type pads that twisted on to a motor drill adapter. They really took down all that rough crap quickly compared to hand sanding. Nothing was easy about polishing it, but you can get away with a lot when you start polishing with the wheels.
Mothers aluminum polish seems to take away from the luster, but that could be my applicator rag scratching it. So far I haven't found any product that you can use to keep the luster.

 

You knead some diamond paste to give it that bling bling shine .Its expensive but worth it .

 

HAHAHAH- TTT gets all his polishing done at the local shop...THAT IS ANYONES BEST BET......a real machine shop will get anything that shiny....use the $$ and save the headache and get a mirror shine!

 

I took another look under my hood. Well, it looked alot better in my head before seeing the above manifolds. I think I am going to pull it off again and get it finished professionally. I really want that Bling Bling look.

I polished my alternator too, but that came out better than my manifold. I'm guessing the smaller surfaces are easier to polish.