Polished compressor housing (14B)

[Demonix]

Well, I got bored and I had some free time so I decided to polish my 14B before it goes in my car next week. About an 30 mins with a wirebrush tip, an hour with 400 grit, then another hour polishing with mothers mag polish. Turned out pretty good, I could have made it alot better with more sanding but... it's only a 14B

Its a little dirty, I took the pics while droping my transmission so my hands were all greasy when it picked it up.

 

[thekellbeast]

Looks good, but now you'll probably get a ticket for a modified turbo.

 

[InfamousEclipse]

That looks DAMN Good

 

[Turbo_Frog]

Would it be the same steps for a valve cover? (Of course it will take longer) Cause I've got all the supplies you listed. Or is it different due to the metal being different or what not?I understand it would be easier and best to use the proper tools, but I dont want to have to go and buy air tools or whatever. I dont mind spending the time to sand and polish it by hand, Im just curious if the same could work so I could do my valve cover.

 

['96_Talon_TSi]

looks awesome, i might do that to mine this week before it goes on. DO you need the wire brush, or think i oculd just use a brillo or steel wool pad then sand etc.

 

[Demonix]

Would it be the same steps for a valve cover? (Of course it will take longer) Cause I've got all the supplies you listed. Or is it different due to the metal being different or what not?I understand it would be easier and best to use the proper tools, but I dont want to have to go and buy air tools or whatever. I dont mind spending the time to sand and polish it by hand, Im just curious if the same could work so I could do my valve cover.

I've never really done anything as big as a valve cover, though I've been thinking about doing mine. I use different wire brush tips on a air compressor rotary tool (air dremel), you could probably manage on a normal dremel tool with the right tips but it will take a lot longer, the best thing to do is get a bench grinder/buffer with interchangeable wheels so you can put a wire brush wheel on it. Here is how I would go about polishing a valve cover with my tools though.

First I'd use a really rough wire brush tip on the air dremel and go over the whole thing. It should smooth out the valve cover but it'll leave smooth little dimples everywhere. From there I'd switch to a softer wire brush tip and go cover the whole thing, it will still leave little dimples but they'll be smaller and the valve cover will be smoother. Now you should have a valve cover that’s very shiney, but also has a "sandy" look to it because of the thousands of small dimples the wire brush tip left. From here on you want to sand with 220-400 grit to get all these little dimple things out (I suggest 400 but it takes longer) As you sand, the surface of the metal will get alot more dull, but smoother. That’s basically what you're going for, you want the entire valve cover to be the same dull color from almost every perspective, once you reach that point you want to wet sand with 400 for awhile till the surface starts to get shiny on its own, without polish. Once you get to that point you have a few options; finish wet sanding with 400 grit then polish, or move to a higher grit wet sand. The higher you go the better its going to look once polished, but honestly once you finish wet standing with 400 and polish, its going to be like a freakin mirror.

When you are ready to polish I suggest mothers mag polish, its easy to use and works great. There are better cutting and finishing compounds out there, but it gets kind of complicated if you're new to the hobby. For polishing, you can use a buffer wheel on a dremel set on lowest RPM, but for something as large as a valve cover its going to take a long time, if you can get a hold of a bench buffer/grinder, that would be ideal, but a dremel will work, just make sure you use steady pressure and low RPM.

Good luck!

 

[Demonix]

[QUOTE='96_Talon_TSi]looks awesome, i might do that to mine this week before it goes on. DO you need the wire brush, or think i oculd just use a brillo or steel wool pad then sand etc.[/QUOTE]

Ya, steel wool will work. Just takes a lot longer. Hit it with the steel wool till it starts to get smoother and roughness of the valve cover starts to fade away. The thing about a wire brush tip is that it cuts the metal and polishes at the same time so you're left with a smooth surface that’s very shiny but has a weird texture to it, so all you have to do is just remove that texture with a high grit sand paper like 400. Steel wool takes longer, but it doesnt leave the texture that the wire brush does, you just get a smooth surface so its actually better because you can jump straight to a high grit sand paper and it actually requires less sanding, but getting it to that point with the steel wool takes a LOT longer than a wire brush tip so its a trade off.

Anyhow, good luck!

 

[bastarddsm]

be careful with the wire wheel idea it has the possiblilty of reall goughing the alum of the vavle cover. best bet is to use some paint remover the chemical kind. John deere has some really good stuf that is really strong and works well. it is called paint and decal remover, and can be had at any dealer. or if that fails have it glass beaded. then sand with 180, 320, 600, 1200 then buff to a nice shine. have fun and prepare to get messy cuz this is dirty work.

 

[Demonix]

Yeah, using a wire brush wheel as a paint stripping method is definitely a bad idea. However, I'm talking about starting on unpainted bare metal. Wire brush wheels don't really rough up metal, they gently cut the surface smooth and polish it to a shine. They're a surface only tool they will not get out deep scratches and nooks. They simply won't cut into the metal that far. There is a little rule I go by when dealing with wire brushes for aluminum, if you can move the tips of the wire brush wheel with your finger, without hurting yourself, its soft enough

 

[ECTurboDSM]

You really don't want to use a wire wheel on the valve cover. It will cut through the aluminum like butter. I did use the wire wheel when I polished my 16G compressor housing. For the valve cover, I started out with 220 grit on a hand sander. Good luck.

 

[Six97GST]

Looks good, but now you'll probably get a ticket for a modified turbo.

True that, damn you 5.0.

Looks good... I think if you spend 15 minutes more with 800 grit and polish it again it will twice as good. Try it

 

[Turbo_Frog]

Wow, thanks man!

 

[Turbo_Frog]

Here is my issue though. My dad has a nice bench grinder in the garage. Do i just hold the valve cover up to the wheel and move it back and forth??? How would you go about doing it with a bench grinder and some sand paper only? I dont have a dremel nor can I get one at the moment. Thanks again.................