Ive heard of either using 10 different kinds of sandpaper then using an aluminum polish to get the mirror shine on parts under the hood or even using steel wool then the polish. Which is better, im trying to get that perfect mirror look to my parts. any suggestions id greatly appreciate

 

I've never tried steel wool, but I've tried the many grits of sandpaper and it worked well... not as well as a couple grits and polishing compounds though.

 

You'll have to use compounds to get a "perfect mirror" shine. Just the aluminum polish and sandpaper/steel wool will get it shiney, and mirror-like, but you'll always see a bit of hazyness or cloudiness that you can't get out with aluminum polish (because it's actually the cause..)

 

I use this stuff called "NeverDull". You can pick it up at Auto Zone, etc. You rub your **** off but it looks good after!

 

Heres a pic of my LT1 fuel rails. The one further away was done with the many grits of sandpaper method. The closer one was done with compounds and polishing wheels (even though I didn't use the wheels at high RPMs, I just used my hand to see how well they worked. Still came out REALLY shiny )

 

now when you say compounds do you mean just like your standard rubbing compound?

 

No we mean metal buffing compounds. Made specifically to put a mirror finish on metals. That pic Metalli posted was a good example. You see how on the foreground rail you can see the shadows and darker colors better? That's usually an effect of a rouge. For aluminum it's a coloring process and makes a night and day difference in the shine. Even better with wheels.

 

For that fuel rail, I used a sisal wheel with emery compound, then a sewn wheel with emery compound, then sewn with tripoli, and finally canton flannel with white rouge which really made it shine. I can't wait to use them at high RPMs to do my wheels

 

alright i see now, well that works out perfect since i do detail, buffing compounds easy to come by, thanks

 

Eastwood has what you want. I still dont see how you guys can polish by hand. I would go insane taking that long to polish stuff.

 

When I polished by hand, I figured it would all be worth it and I didn't want to spend the money on wheels and compounds. But I wound up spending about the same in sandpaper anyway probably and the wheels and compounds make it MUCH easier, faster, and produce beautiful results.

 

what wheels and compounds are needed and whats the price range?

i want to start polishing some under the hood goodies...

Thanks,
Dabe

 

Check out this thread, this is what I used:

Polishing Tips

 

coool...thanks!