I have stock runners and want to polish them but i am thinking of hand sanding them but i heard they mess up

 

you're going to need different grits of sandpaper and there will be wet sanding taking place.

you will probably need a hand powered tool to use so you can buff and polish.

basically polishing just has to do with smoothing everything out, so you grind off the big impurities with rough sand paper, then you go smoother and smoother as time goes on.

takes the right equipment and chemicals to do the job right (looking good), and a lot of patience and time.

 

I polished my plenum with this things

1. 3M Sandpaper.
   80, 120, 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1500 grit
2. 3M marine aluminum restorer
3. Mothers Aluminum Polish
4. Polishing cloth

You think i could use this to polish my runners because the previous owner said he tried to polish them but they came out ugly so he painted them

 

If the runners have scratches in them you could use successive degrees of fine sand paper as mentioned above. Removing the runners from the engine would facilitate this; however, this is a lot of work just to polish some parts.

If all you want to do is make them shine and the runners are either on or off the engine; then use some Mothers Aluminum Polish and a rag to rub the polish on with. Then use a buffing pad in your drill to make the runners shine.

 

I have them off right now because i am rebuilding my engine and i polished my plenum and now want to polish my runners altough they have paint on how can i take the paint off.

 

so if i just polish it with aluminum polish would it give it a shine

 

To remove paint I use a product called Poly Strippa by LePage’s. I have used this to remove automotive paint on valve covers and other parts. Make sure you read the instructions as this stuff is very caustic and will produce chemical burns to human skin. Consider wearing rubber gloves.

Try the Mothers polish on the runners combined with a high speed buffing. That will make them shine. If it is not to your satisfaction then redo with successively fine grit sand paper finished with Mothers again.

 

i will try with the grit but should i use all the ones that i used for the plenum i just wanted to know if they are aluminum because my uncle told me they ain't

 

They are aluminum & a magnet will verify that.

 

So i will try with the 80, 120, 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1500 grit paper and then polish it by hand then i will find out how it comes out

 

if they are stock as cast finish, then simply using aluminum polish will only make them shiny and bumpy as opposed to the normal dull and bumpy.
if you want them to look like polished aluminum should, you will need to first remove the sand pattern cast into the runners with sandpaper.
you probably dont need to start all the way at 80 grit.
i would start at 320 or so and work my may up.
then use mothers billet aluminum polish.
then clear them or they will tarnish in a heartbeat

 

Clear them, and they'll turn yellow. You will need to have them sealed with something along the lines of Zoop.

 

So what should i do to polish them

 

yep. forgot about the heat thing lol

 

If it turns yellow i could just get some steel wood no

 

they are talking about what you use to seal them after you polish them. you can polish them and have them clear powdercoated. eventually it will yellow though too. as far as polishing them start with 180 and go to 400 then polish with a dremel or get a drill buffer kit. they are akward to hold onto and try and polish though. good luck.

 

Do a search in the Tech Articles....theres a step by step walk through that will have those runners and plenum shining like mirrors....good luck and well worth the effort!

 

I did that with my plenum and it looks like a mirror should i do it with the runners too i just typed plenum polish in the search and the first one that is what i did should i do that.

 

yep.
about the clear, you dont really have to.
you will just have to break out the mothers every once in a while and put a finishing touch on it.

dont use steel wool
that will scratch the heck out of your mirror finish.

 

I've ported and polished a set of slp runners to replace the stock runners,( also polished) and would suggest using fine paper 200 -220 grit wet paper with a little WD-40, IF YOU JUST HAVE SAND PAPER. Lots of work though, a buffing wheel,compound and a bench grinder do a better,easier job though. Go easy on them though even a buffer wheel could heat them up enough to distort or even burn through them.

 

I polished them with sand paper and look nice

 

i used never dull on one side of mine and they turned out pretty well

makes since lol we tested it on galvanized steel on our shed and it had a mirror shine to it

 

I have just sold my tpi and everything for $800 and the guy was happy