I had my plenum, runners, and intake manifold all bead blasted to make them look new before installing them on the new engine. The machine shop bead blasted all of the gasket faces with sand, so they are not "shiny" anymore and instead have a tiny grain to them. With this impact the seal? Should I polish all gasket faces before installing?

Also, can I coat with anything to keep the aluminum looking new?

Thanks!
Josh

 

Check the Appearance & Detailing forum for keeping the alum shiny

Bead blasting wont pit the alum enough to compromise a seal. Install it without worry

 

I hope they actually bead blasted your aluminum and not sand blasted it.
Blasting aluminum embeds the media in the aluminum. You don't want sand falling into your engine.
Glass bead and whatnot is not so much a problem.