Ions91Z28

Well, sort of. I polished a plenum, but this one will be sold since it's for an 86 and mine is 91.

But still looks pretty good, so I figured I'd throw some pictures in. Going to powder coat the sides gloss black sometime this week to try and make the shine show more with a contrasting black. Overall pretty good, still a few hairline scratches and pitting on one small edge that will stay.

joshp14

You did good my young jedi...j/k. Looks awesome...what steps did you take?

Ions91Z28

I took the front part, where the pre-90 models has like a small step, and used a carbide bit to chew it down. Should have used sanding drums, but didn't have any. Then went 80-220-400 and then used tripoli and white rouge. Overall came out pretty well. If I could figure out how to remove the casting quicker, I believe I could do it in under an hour.

bigals87z28

only went to 400 huh? where do you get tripoli and white rouge? this is as far as i got with 400

joshp14

yeah thats what sucks is removing all of the casting and small pits that stay there. When i did mine I used a lower grit to start so it gets rid of it faster.

well at least you did it right stopping at 400 then going to the compounds.

Ions91Z28

The video on the first picture you can by compounds from there. I'm running two 12" wheels on a 1 1/2hp bench buffer.

I used the DA sander to remove the metal as quick as possible. 80 was the longest stage followed by 400 being the longest.

TorchRay

hey bigal...looks like your progressing good. Wow....your in springfield.....thats only like 25 min away from me. Maybe we could meet up sometime.

MetalliCamaroRS

iTrader: (15)

Looks good man, I'm thinking about doing mine before I sell it.

bigals87z28

yea, i remember you saying something about memorial drive... you posted in the north east board. Im in springfield till the 9th of may, then i go back home. If you wana meet up, im sure ill make my way to the mall or whereever... im not 100% about the area, but whatever. If you wana talk to me my AIM sn is the same as this one. and thanks man.. i gotta get back home and finish up the plenum and give it to my friend! she has my maf, i have her plenum... it all works out in the end!

Sickness91Z28

iTrader: (1)

Is white rouge only used when it's been sanded till about 400 grit?? I sanded my plenum from 80-1500 grit...I used white rouge..and it didn't look good at all....Mothers aluminum polish blew it away.....just thought I'd ask for future use.

Ions91Z28

I would never put mothers on this one. I put a wash ran to wipe some fingerprints off, and it scratched it. Mothers would leave horrible scratch marks.

Sickness91Z28

iTrader: (1)

Must be the way it's applied then.....Mothers worked great on mine....not many scrathes at all....used it on a high speed buffing wheel...plus....I did all of this while the plenum was still on the car....unlike most of you guys that take it off and buff it on a bench grinder with a buffing wheel and compounds..whenever I clean it..I just use glass cleaner and a soft rag....no scratches at all...

Ions91Z28

I do use mine on a rag, not a buffer.

But mothers is natrually an abrasive. Which is why it can produce a shine. It's just not as fine as white rouge. Which is why white can tend to produce a better shine. I've used mothers, neverdull, eagle one jewelers rouge... and they all work pretty good. I've just had better luck with the white rouge compounds and tripoli

IROCThe5.7L

Wow thats wierd. When I was experimenting with different techniques, white rogue worked way better then mothers aluminum polish. Rouge took out all the fine scratches mothers couldnt and gave it that mirror like finish. Anything I finished with mothers had a haze from all the light scratches.

bigals87z28

this is gunna sound bad, but could i hand polish it? i dont have any hight speed wheels other then my dremmel, and that would take forever... thanks

Sickness91Z28

iTrader: (1)

What grit did you end up with before buffing with white rouge though? Alot of people are saying 400 grit...see....I ended with 1500 grit..then hit it with mothers...and as you can see in the picture..it's not hazy at all..it's a mirror like finish. Also..when I hit it with the white rouge...I did it on a drill....so...that might have had something to do with it....I'm not taking my plenum off though..I'm just going to stick with the mothers...lol. I'm sure white rouge is good too..like most people say...everyone has their own techniques

Ions91Z28

bigals

You can, but it takes forever, and won't be perfect. Although some have managed to get a VERY nice shine. It's much harder that way.

I took my DA to it, had it sanded down to no casting and with 400 with 30-45 minutes probably. Have it buffed and shining like I show above in about 15-20 minutes or so. That of course is only the top, but still not terrible.

There are others on here that can probably get it even quicker. By hand... well... you don't want to know the time.

Ions91Z28

I would like to see higher res pictures of it, mine isn't perfect. Mothers almost always produces a haze, I've used the 1500 method and used mothers. But you did do yours with a drill, I didn't. Yours does look very good, so I see no reason for you to want to try white rouge. Your happy with mothers, and yours looks good. I'd stick with it as well.

Sickness91Z28

iTrader: (1)

Exactly. See...first..I did it by hand with mothers..and I have to say..it sucked. It looks hazey and didn't have that deep intense shine...it looks "wore out" So...I went to a high speed polishing wheel buffer...I use to buff cars with. Then.....that's when the mothers really came to life. Higher speeds and more pressure makes mothers work SO much better. I'll take a few close ups tomorrow for ya.

IROCThe5.7L

I went up to 2000 wet, then mothers aluminum polish, then white rogue.


Up to 2000 with mothers:




Buffed with white Rouge:





Did you do the runners when they were on the car too?

Sickness91Z28

iTrader: (1)

Yeah...I did everything while it was on the car...besides the 52MM BBK TB......I'm not much of a mechanic...and didn't want to take anything off..and then not know how to put it back together..lol..I'm more into paint and body. Thanks for the pictures of the Aluminum plenum extension. Mine looked exactly the same way with Mothers...but...that was before I hit it with the buffing wheel. When I hit it with the wheel....it made it look alot more like the second picture.

IROCThe5.7L

Wow you did a Gj! I tried doing my runners when they were on the car, I did it 15 minutes and was like **** this, Im taking them off Which I havent done yet, doh.

Sickness91Z28

iTrader: (1)

ok..one more..lol..I just found another picture...this shows the runners really well....I won't bother you guys anymore..lol

TunedPort 335

All hand polished -






Yeah it took a million years but the end result was worth it. I finally bought myself some sanding disks, buffing pads, and some rouges to do my wheels. I'll have pics of those in a week or so..

Dan88IrocZ

I'm in the process of polishing my plenum & a wheel. The wheel project is taking forever because I don't have a lot of free time! Plus it's hard on my back heh.

The guys who are in Springfield...I'm in Pittsfield, about 40 mins away!

85SportCoupeto89RS

You did a good job on the polishing Matt How's things going with your shop?

Ions91Z28

Mike,

Pretty good actually. People are coming out of the woodwork wanting work done. So it's okay with me. You get your shop up and running?

MdFormula350

excellent looking.

Sickness91Z28

iTrader: (1)

lemme see if this one works...

85SportCoupeto89RS

Told ya things would come around I've finally finished the shop :lala: it took a very long time but I built the whole shop by myself. Now I just have to get all nessicary supplies and I'll be getting with it