Boom death Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 so i dint work today and i had no classes either so intead of sitting on my arse all day i polished my valve cover by HAND this is what they looked like when i took if off the car it wasnt all that bad but to start off with but who doesnt like shiny things these next images are after first sanding with 220 grit wet sand paper just to get some of the bigger scratches out then i used 600grit wet sand paper for my second coat this was my longest stage almost 2 hours to get an even base for the final sanding and finally i used 1000 grit wet sandpaper to make the surface easier to get that mirrorer finish look good enough to just throw her on just like that after the 1000 grit.but i polished it with some alluminum polish that i had and BOOM shiny valve cover sure its not competition quality shine but it way better than what i started with lol holy reflection thats shiny and here it is bolted back in the truck hope u guys enjoy it as much i did making it :thumbup: by the way i took me almost 5 hours for 3 coats of sanding and 2 coats of polish to get this done and all done by hand lol 1 Quote Link to comment
Dat Lurka Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 Looks great! I need to redo mine with sandpaper when I can afford some. Did it recently with some aluminum cleaner and mothers polish. Then I painted the letters in jet black acrylic. Took about 45 minutes. Would like to get it as good as yours! Quote Link to comment
Boom death Posted October 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 Thanks man i thought about painting inbetween the letter cuz it is impossible to polish in their ...but yeah I think I spent like 35 on sand paper alone they can get expensive when u get to the ultra fine stuff but well worth it IMO Quote Link to comment
Wide14u Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 it came out nice Quote Link to comment
Pacific coast Datsun Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 Looks damm good. To seal in the shine you can spray a few light coats of clear (rattle can works ok). Quote Link to comment
1lo620 Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 ya what mark said (pac coast) should be cleared, if not it will losse its luster quite fast. That is the only thing about polishing aluminum, it needs to be maintained.. But looks great... Quote Link to comment
Boom death Posted October 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 Thanks guys... I thought about putting some clear on it but I also thought the heat might affect the clear coat in some way like melt off or get crusty and flake off ???... Besides I wouldnt mind taking it off every couple of months to freshen it up a bit Quote Link to comment
alabama_lowlife Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 Eastwood sells an aerosol clear that is supposed to be safe for use on valve covers. I used to polish quite a bit but never tried it. I used some other aerosol clear on a radiator. It took away a little of the reflectivity but it still looked very nice. I haven't paid very much attention to it in the last couple of years, it's been sitting on my parts shelf. I'll check it out and see how it looks now. Nice job BTW. Looks top notch. Quote Link to comment
Silvester Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 Looks great! Ill have to do that to mine later Quote Link to comment
Boom death Posted October 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 so I found some clear at my local auto shop and read it can hold up to 300 degrees ferenheit put it on and wow all tge shiny was gone it loses a lot more shine than i thought so I got some paint thinner ad took it off all that work to have it looking like shit in the end so I will be shining this thing every couple of months or when ever I head over to the inland empire Datsun meets lol Quote Link to comment
Pacific coast Datsun Posted October 27, 2012 Report Share Posted October 27, 2012 Yeah it does dull it a bit. The one i cleared is on my boat (has an L 20) & it helps to keep the water spots to a minimum. Quote Link to comment
Radim Posted October 27, 2012 Report Share Posted October 27, 2012 You can also run that Shark Skin stuff through it. Quote Link to comment
JoeCool Posted October 27, 2012 Report Share Posted October 27, 2012 Wow! That looks great. May have to do mine someday. Quote Link to comment
Rays74 Posted October 28, 2012 Report Share Posted October 28, 2012 Nice work, Boom dude :D Looks great, kudos. Quote Link to comment
Llittle_Llama Posted October 29, 2012 Report Share Posted October 29, 2012 Damn that looks good! Now do the fuel pump :D Quote Link to comment
Boom death Posted October 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2012 glad u guys like it ...... idk if it would work on the fuel pump it looks like it has a brass finish on it or it was spray painted yellow ... but i definately got my eyes out for a new aluminum radiator... and thinking about chroming the air box cleaner Quote Link to comment
K_trip Posted October 29, 2012 Report Share Posted October 29, 2012 Nice work, that thing really shines! Quote Link to comment
Llittle_Llama Posted October 29, 2012 Report Share Posted October 29, 2012 I have a brand new aluminum one I fitted with AN- fittings I was going to polish and install but sold the truck before I got to do it :( The AN- fittings look bad ass on it though! Quote Link to comment
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