what a difference!

Road_Runna said:

What kind of tools did you use to polish your manifold? I too have a Performer upper and lower and have wondered how to polish those.

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There are so many I don't know where to start. And this is really an art to tell you the truth. It takes lots of patience and time! But for the most part I use an electric 2600 rpm drill with a 5" backup pad. I start with 5" 80 grit sanding discs then follow with 320 grit. For tight corners I use what are called cartridge rolls, they are little tapered sanding rolls that are designed to reach into tight nooks and crannies.

After that I use small felt bullet-shaped felts to cut in all the tight areas before I use the big buffing wheel to buff all the easily accessible areas. I use what is called tripoli compound initially then follow with white rouge to make it "POP". When you shop for buffing wheels you'll see different kinds offered. You want "spiral sewn section" and "loose sewn". The spiral wheel is your cutting wheel and used with tripoli compound and the loose wheel is your finishing wheel and gets used with white rouge.

I was playing with the idea of making a DVD of the complete process and showing little time saving tricks along the way. I took a few snap shots of a little sanding of the tight areas. Nothing spectacular and I didn't go much further because frankly I just wanted this thing done. I had already shipped my RPM out so my car was sitting and not running!

Here is the intake after stripping with chemical stripper (Aircraft finish remover is best) then pressure washing:





and here's a few shots of getting into tighter areas.















that's all I got because I got in a hurry to complete. The biggest part of doing this is being able to control the sanding disc and cartridge rolls without destroying them. It's tricky because you want them to cut fast but not bare down so hard as to destroy them. This is why most people give up on polishing. I've gotten so many customers over the years that send me their halfway polished items they tried to polish themselves and gave up! lol

Noobz347 said:

Looks awesome 4.6. Did you coat them in any way to preserve the polishing?

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no. There's no permanent coating that can be used that will be able to protect it and still look good. There are products out there that are designed to preserve it for months at a time, but over the years I have yet to see anything that's 100%. I mean, even with Zoop seal, which is very expensive, water will still spot the aluminum and require maintenance to remove it.

Honestly products like Mothers and Blue Magic easily return the metal to it's beautiful shine with minimal effort.

I don't think it is possible because anything other than a permanent coating won't adhere due to the surface being so smooth. And something like powder coating will take away the sheen of the polished aluminum leaving it slightly dull.

Not to mention, pretty much ALL clear coatings be it paints or powder will eventually turn yellow from the heat.