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But in short, 3M makes a drill tool that holds sanding discs. The sanding discs are about 3.5" in diameter. You can get one of these at any automotive paint supply place. The tool has a rubber back with a shaft that goes into the drill chuck, and on the face of the rubber there is a metal threaded hole that the discs twist into to hold them on. Very nice and quick to change discs, which you will be thankful for. Get two or three 100grit discs, about 5 of the coarse (red) fiber discs(kinda like a brillo pad), about 5 of the brown (medium) discs and 10 of the blue(fine) discs. You will also need a high speed buffer. I bought a makita 90 degree angle high speed cutter, and retrofitted the head to accept a 6" polishing wheel. It spins at 10,000 rpm and it works VERY well and can be used with one hand. I spent like $60 on it new from sears. You will need a buffing wheel, preferably (2) 6" discs (or close to that, no bigger) and a rouge kit. The rouge is what makes the polishing possible, dont forget that. Sears has a kit that it sold by craftsman, it has four of these clay type bars, white, black, brown and red. A dremel is also necessary to get into the small spaces. A sanding drum and coarse, meduim and fine grit drums will be necessary. You will also need a few of the dremel polishing wheels, preferably the ones that are sewn together (rather than the solid felt wheel) and look like miniatures of the real thing. You will need a few sheets of ~180, 240 and 320 grit sandpaper. Using the 3M produict, you have to start with the 100grit paper to get through the casting and down to smooth metal. If you see any black pits on the surface of the metal, you need to grind some more to get to the bottom of them. Once you have worked that out, jump to the coarse (red) disc and give it a good once over. Then go to the brown and do the same. The blue discs are a finer material that will prepare the metal for polishing. You will need to spend a good amount of time with this disc and be sure to remove all of the deeper scratches in the metal as these will show up pretty ugly when you polish it. If you miss some of the deeper scratches, dont worry, you can always hit it again with the blue pad and then repolish. Expect to do this too, you wont get all of the scratches out on your first try. This is where attention to detail comes in. With the dremel tool, you will need to start with the coarse drum and grind away the casting that could not be reached with the drill attachment. The process with the dremel is the same as with its larger cousin. (drill attachment) Once you have gone through all of the grades of drum, you will need to start with the sandpaper in those areas because the drum leaves the surface not quite ready for polishing. Start with the 180 grit and work your way up to the 320. Once you are here, you are ready to begin polishing. Start with the black rouge, it is the coarsest and it will cut through some of the lighter scratches. With the polishing wheel spinning, take the bar and be sure to get the polishing wheel good and black with the stuff. Then start working the metal with it. You will get the hang of the material - what you are looking for is to see the rouge come off the wheel and onto the metal as you are moving the polishing wheel slowly across the surface of the metal. Friction causes heat and this is an aspect of polishing aluminum effectively so dont worry about moving too slowly. You will see the aluminum start to shine. Try and work out all of the scratches, if you cant get some out, dont worry, just grab the drill loaded up with the blue disc and work them out. Repolishing them doesn't take long at all. One or two passes will do. Dont be afraid of pushing too hard either, pushing hard on the polisher will help the buffing process. Be sure to keep the wheel rouge'd up, you will be doing this very frequently during polishing. If you dont see rouge filming out onto the aluminum as you polish, you dont have enough rouge. Just polish the rouge bar with the wheel for a second or two. Doesn't take much. Once you have worked as much of it with the large polishing wheel as you can reach, load up the dremel and do the same thing with the black rouge. After that is done, do a few good passes using the red rouge, and then the white rouge. This will give you a good mirror finish. Clean the plenum off with soapy water - the rouge will be all over it and you will need to get it off to make it shine really well. You should also get yourself some of that aluminum cream polish stuff. It is sold at any auto parts place. Give it a good once over with that stuff to get an awesome shine and also to protect the aluminum. These cream polishes have silica in them that protects the aluminum from the elements. The same process can be done with any of the aluminum engine components. Enjoy!
My CarPuter Headquarters:
[ ashleypowers.terrashare.com ]
agpowers@bellsouth.net
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