Polishing an Intake....

haulbalz · Apr 13, 2004

To Polish my upper and lower intake what should I do? Sand paper, dremel, and what type of attachments should i use with the dremel? if that is how i should go about it. thanks!

onebad95 · Apr 13, 2004

First off, set aside about 14 hours to do the upper intake. I would not do the lower. I used the following on my edelbrock. First, I used airplane stripper to get off the powdercoating, then went with 220 grit, 320 grit, 400 grit, 500 grit all dry sand paper. Then I wet sanded with 1000 and 2000. When you get to the 2000 use the same piece, as the longer you sand it actually gets knocked down even further. Then use some type of aluminum polish with a high speed drill and buffing pad to get the mirror shine. Hope this helps. Remember, when you get about 1/2 way done you'll wish you never started this project, but when your done.... You'll be happy

1105 · Apr 13, 2004

onebad95 said:
Remember, when you get about 1/2 way done you'll wish you never started this project, but when your done.... You'll be happy

Starting with 220 may not be enough depending on how the casting is for the intake. For all or my stuff I go 80, 120, 220, 320, 400, then stop at 600 and let the wheels and compound do the rest of the work. You'll need a high speed drill or a bench grinder for polishing. A 2500rpm drill will work perfectly.

95stocker · Apr 13, 2004

1105 said:
Starting with 220 may not be enough depending on how the casting is for the intake. For all or my stuff I go 80, 120, 220, 320, 400, then stop at 600 and let the wheels and compound do the rest of the work. You'll need a high speed drill or a bench grinder for polishing. A 2500rpm drill will work perfectly.

Could you use a high speed electric die grinder (small handheld one) with different grit wheels to do this? If you can it would save you tons of time and agony. I was thinking of doing this myself, think that method would work? And oh yea, why would you use stripper to take the powder coating off when you're just going to physically grind tons of material off later?

VibrantRedGT · Apr 13, 2004

I used air tools right away which saved some time. Bailed out on the center section of the upper (paint). Then started the blower but only managed to keep my sanity by doing just the backside. No way in hell was I going to do those squares by hand. Good luck and wear gloves or you won't have finger prints (which may be a good thing).

1105 · Apr 13, 2004

I'd be careful if your using a high speed grinder. That thing will eat through metals easily if not careful. With that said, I dont see why an electric sander wont help out any. I use one for the big flat surfaces on the stuff I do. I'm going to try a DA sander on my intake whenever I go to do it.

xsivpwr · Apr 13, 2004

Hey Vib,

Ever consider sanding and polishing up the tops of the lettering on the intake? I bet that would set it off that much more.

ARed1995GT · Apr 13, 2004

I am in the middle of polishing an upper. It's hard work because you sand and sand and it feels like you aren't making much progress.

<img src="http://www.mustangmods.com/data/8235/mvc010s.jpg">
<img src="http://www.mustangmods.com/data/8235/mvc011s.jpg">

There are two pics of what I have done so far. I'm going to go work on it more now.

BlackFox5.0 · Apr 13, 2004

I started with 200 and worked up to 600. I started wetsanding at 400grit.

Just so you know polishing is a pain in the ass, and once you start it theres no turning back...After I started I wish I never did, lol took me at least 6 months to do mine because I never wanted to finish it, and when I worked on it I wanted to stop before I started.

95stocker · Apr 13, 2004

BlackFox5.0 said:
I started with 200 and worked up to 600. I started wetsanding at 400grit.

Just so you know polishing is a pain in the ass, and once you start it theres no turning back...After I started I wish I never did, lol took me at least 6 months to do mine because I never wanted to finish it, and when I worked on it I wanted to stop before I started.

did you hand sand the whole thing or just the finer grit?

ARed1995GT · Apr 13, 2004

damn, 6 months??? thats long. i hope to finish it atleast within a month

onebad95 · Apr 13, 2004

1105 said:
Starting with 220 may not be enough depending on how the casting is for the intake. For all or my stuff I go 80, 120, 220, 320, 400, then stop at 600 and let the wheels and compound do the rest of the work. You'll need a high speed drill or a bench grinder for polishing. A 2500rpm drill will work perfectly.

What's with the stupid sign ???? Is there something wrong with that statement.

BlackFox5.0 · Apr 13, 2004

I sanded and polsihed the entire thing by hand, no power tools whatsoever.

It didn't take 6months of constant work to do, lol it's just that, thats how long it took for me to finish it. I worked on it maybe 1 hour once a week on average I guess..sometimes more, somteims less, or not at all....it's very very boring and time consuming.

1105 · Apr 13, 2004

onebad95 said:
What's with the stupid sign ???? Is there something wrong with that statement.

No, I was with you on the it takes forever but worth it in the end part of what you said. There wasnt anyother smiley faces that says I agree so I HAD to use that one

haulbalz · Apr 13, 2004

well, i guess i can afford to take my time, the intake is my old cobra intake and the whole engine is just sitting on a stang at our shop, when we're slow i've got nothing better to do than to rebuild my old engine, or at least clean it up. But, just for ****s and giggles, about how long do you think it would take if i did it all at once? thanks guys, i appreciate the replies!

HoofnIt · Apr 13, 2004

Polishing the intake is not an easy task. I have been working in my spare time since the beginning of December. I started using 80 grit as the casting on the Ford piece was terrible! I only went to 400 grit and began buffing with the tripoli. I need to go over it again with tripoli and then a couple coats with the rouge which will really make it shine! This intake is by far the most difficult project I have ever attempted and I am not done. Here is a quick pic.

1105 · Apr 13, 2004

If you think the intake is hard, try doing the altinator bracket. That thing is a PITA to do! Or even worse, try to do the lower intake

HoofnIt · Apr 13, 2004

I would think that the Edelbrock unit would be much easier to polish as the casting looks much smoother to start with. Plus, there are not as many 'curves' and tight spots to sand down unlike the 'GT40' family of intakes. Be prepared to invest many hours working on it! I hope to never outgrow my Cobra intake.

haulbalz · Apr 13, 2004

you are talking about hand sanding right?

1105 · Apr 13, 2004

I think hand sanding the intake will probably be the easiest way to get it done. There will be some places you can use a power sander to make it quicker, but in all the grooved between the runners you might have to sand thoes by hand.

Polishing an Intake....

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