Polishing

[Pol3000]

Hi,
I'm Mario from Italy. Sorry if my english is not perfect but it's my best.
I want to polish some parts of my engine (Valve cover, plenum etc).
Is this the right way?

1)FLAP WHEEL 80 grit (the parts are very rough)
2)Glass paper 100 (by hand)
3)Abrasive paper 220 (by hand)
3)Abrasive paper 400 (by hand)
4)Abrasive Paper 600 (by hand)
5)Abrasive Paper 800 (by hand)
6)Black Compound (by hand)
7)White compound (by hand)
Flitz metal polish cream (by hand)
9)Flitz metal polish liquid (?) (by hand)

then i'm not sure but i was planning to paint them with a transparent paint to preserve them from oxide etc

What do you think about?
Thanks
Mario

[pickleboy]

first of all welcome to to the forum. are the parts aluminum or steel? i suggest that you start out reading this buffing manual first http://www.caswellplating.com/buffman.htm secondly you have the right steps with a few exceptions. you can machine sand with a palm sander up to 220 with no trouble, it will save a lot of hand work. then move up to 400 dry by hand, when satisfied with that resand with 400 wet(water and a small amount of mild liquid dish soap). keep sanding wet up to 800. at this point it should look as good as you want it to except the finish will be dull. then you are ready for the wheels and compound. you can use a air or electric drill, die grinder,buffing maching or bench grinder that converted. the wheel and compound you should start with is a spiral sewn and emory. then work that till you get the shine you want. from there use a tripoli and spiral sewn, finally use a loose cotton and white. as for the flitz it would be good for a final buff by hand. lastly to seal i would suggest zoopseal it is the best out. all of this sound complex but it is not that bad. all the supplies you will need are available from our sponser "caswell" and they sell international. hope this help and best of luck.

[mpierich]

Originally Posted by Pol3000

1)FLAP WHEEL 80 grit (the parts are very rough)
2)Glass paper 100 (by hand)
3)Abrasive paper 220 (by hand)
3)Abrasive paper 400 (by hand)
4)Abrasive Paper 600 (by hand)
5)Abrasive Paper 800 (by hand)
6)Black Compound (by hand)
7)White compound (by hand)
Flitz metal polish cream (by hand)
9)Flitz metal polish liquid (?) (by hand)
then i'm not sure but i was planning to paint them with a transparent paint to preserve them from oxide etc
Mario

Hi Mario,

After the 800, use the black compound on a spiral-sewn buffing wheel or whatever you need to get into the tight areas. Using it by hand will have little effect. If the parts are aluminum, clean the black compund off and go over them with the brown compound.

I always finish up with Flitz by hand - it does a great job of cleaning all the grease left from the compounds.

There is a lot of info in these posts - I suggest you read a lot of them and the online manual to get a beter idea of what to do.

[Pol3000]

what are the differences between brown and white complound?

[pickleboy]

the difference in all the colors is the amount of cut or grit they have in them. the black is the most aggresive then brown,white,red,blue has no cut some where in there is green for stainless steel. the compound for the most part is abrasive powders in a grease base then poured into bar form.
as for cleaning a hot water with dish soap or a mild automotive degreaser to clean between compounds and be sure to use a different wheel for each color.

[Pol3000]

Do you think the products in this link are the same listed here?
http://www.sverital.it/sez3/prod03_25.htm

[pickleboy]

the top items are not the same they are abrasive rubber. the bottom seams to be the same but i cant be sure. the colors seem right but use at your own discrection, as for the quality i can only speak for the supplies i have gotten from caswell and it is top quality and reasonably priced. i have used others and they dont get the job done as well. best of luck and try to post some pictures in the album above

[Pol3000]

Originally Posted by pickleboy

the top items are not the same they are abrasive rubber. the bottom seams to be the same but i cant be sure. the colors seem right but use at your own discrection, as for the quality i can only speak for the supplies i have gotten from caswell and it is top quality and reasonably priced. i have used others and they dont get the job done as well. best of luck and try to post some pictures in the album above

ok, i'll order them from USA. I'm waiting for an answer from caswell to the payment

[Pol3000]

Originally Posted by pickleboy

the difference in all the colors is the amount of cut or grit they have in them. the black is the most aggresive then brown,white,red,blue has no cut some where in there is green for stainless steel. the compound for the most part is abrasive powders in a grease base then poured into bar form.
as for cleaning a hot water with dish soap or a mild automotive degreaser to clean between compounds and be sure to use a different wheel for each color.

so white is less aggressive than brown?

[pickleboy]

yes that is correct.