Blinging up y0 Stuff!!

[Adydas]

Now after been here for so long ive never once seen the question for doing this and as much as im tempted to look at it it appears to much effort but i am curious just how to get that show spec shine..

In short, How do you get that shiney reflective chrome look to pipeing, cam covers gearboxes etc.

My guesses would say go crazy for a few hours with a wire brush but im sure there must be a art to it.

[EVLGTZ]

chrome in a can bling a ding ding!

[Jebus]

Bench grinder, with a buffing wheel and the correct polishing compund for the type of metal youre buffing, go to town with this, it will leave black shit on it, but once youved buffed it thoroughly with the buffing wheel, use autosol on a rag and buff it by hand, this will remove the black shit and bring it up BLINGIN Y0, then just put a thin layer of car polish over top, this will prevent it from going dull again.

If youre doing something other than aluminium (someting harder) a wire wheel on a bench ginder will bring it up like brand new, then buff over that will make a niiice shine, you can wire wheel ali, but be careful and dont go over the same places more than once as it leaves quite deep scrathes in it easily.

[Adydas]

So when do you need to resort to a wire brush? is it based on look? or material your doing up?

[Jebus]

So when do you need to resort to a wire brush? is it based on look? or material your doing up?

I only really buff ali, But if im doind mild steel or something hard ill always buff it cos it doesnt scratch like ali does, but I use the wire buff on stuff that has oxidised or corroded over time, examples being alternators or thermostat housings, where as i wouldnt wire buff something large and flat like a rocker cover if i wanted it uber bling in case it left deepish scrathces, most of the time you can get away with just degreasing them.

[Grrrrrrr!]

depends how smooth it is to start with.. if it feels smooth to your finger then wire brush/polishing compound is the go.. but if its metal with a slightly rougher texture your are going to need to start of with sandpaper.. wet'n'dry working down to the finer stuff.. at least down to an 800 grit if you want a good shine.. down to a 1200 or even finer if you want that mirror finish. and yes.. it is very time consuming.. power tools and airtools are your friends!

[sigma]

depends how smooth it is to start with.. if it feels smooth to your finger then wire brush/polishing compound is the go.. but if its metal with a slightly rougher texture your are going to need to start of with sandpaper.. wet'n'dry working down to the finer stuff.. at least down to an 800 grit if you want a good shine.. down to a 1200 or even finer if you want that mirror finish. and yes.. it is very time consuming.. power tools and airtools are your friends!

This person speaks wise words. Sand paper and elbow grease get the best finish. Buff with a bench grinder for a mirror finish.

[Dell'Orto]

Yup, I did my intercooler pipes by hand, as the stock MR2 one is cast ali, and did the rocker cover on a buffer. Came up pretty good IMO.

[Silent Knight]

HPC auu

[Mr XXX]

depending on what you are doing, alloy is good with a buffing wheel on a bench grinder, but if the piece is pretty rooted, then its out ithe the sand paper. I started polishing a few years ago, after talking to my panel beating tutor at tech, he did alot of his stuff by hand. So i gave it a go, got some sand paper of diffrent grades, and started sanding out all the casting marks on a 4age dissy i had, Hell it takes ages, but its mirror when its done. I usally start with a dry 220, then move on to a wet/dry 400, but use keroscene instead of water, then maybe a 600, 1200 1500 and finally 2000. then I hand polish up with mother alloy polish. Stuff works mint

Here are some of the few wheel I have done in my time.....


[img][img]http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j49/bosozoku-tokyo/121_2109.jpg[/img][/img]

[img][img]http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j49/bosozoku-tokyo/121_2110.jpg[/img][/img]

[img][img]http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j49/bosozoku-tokyo/121_2113.jpg[/img][/img]

But you rally can spend forever doing this. I now have a massive buffing electric motor mounted on a pedelstill. That thing is going to be mean..

Allan

[Timmo]

mister xxx- what is the purpose/advantages of Kero over, say water?

[sergei]

Does not react with freshly polished (bare) aluminium?

[Mr XXX]

has more of a lubricating effect. water is blah, and yes, I dont know if sanding water into your alloy is the best thing.......

Although, I have never used water, just always started with kero, works a treat.

Allan

[$CENSLS1$]

Damn mate definatly looks like you know what your doing.Nice work

[Snoozin]

I've just started on some grotty old 13" rims I picked up off TradeMe for $76.....

They were mostly oxidisded, some marks in them. Started with a light sand, then progressed to a plastic pot scourer using an old tin of Simoniz rubbing compound (the kind of stuff they use when painting with Dulon etc, in the initial cut after painting). Once the initial layer of oxidised shite was removed, I was left with a clean dull surface, and have then used varying grades of steel wool to bring it up shiny, but not mirror finish.

A buffing wheel is in order to see if I can bring up the rims something akin to those superlights Mr. XXX has posted, the rims I have were not originally produced in that finish so I have some work ahead of me.

[Mr XXX]

yeah that was the longest part on those wheels. Because the lip was originally a machine lip, which ws done by machine heaps of grove into the steel to make them shine, I had to sand those out to make them look mirror......... I did do another et recently, but I dont think I took pictures, and the guy just sold the car

Also here is a small before and after.





Allan

[AE85coupe]

autosol = good for the final polish after sanding with fine grit

[Mr XXX]

yeah I thought auto sol, but in all honesty the mothers alloy polish appers to work just the same, and the mother stuff is cheaper.

Allan

[AE85coupe]

yeah I thought auto sol, but in all honesty the mothers alloy polish appers to work just the same, and the mother stuff is cheaper.

Allan

fair enough

just out of interest what size are the superlites in the picture?

[Mr XXX]

13x7.... its funny, the 13x7's coem with 2 inch of dish, and the 13x8's are totally diffrently desined with like 1 inch of dish

Its all about the dish baby
Allan