Hazeing question when polishing??Help

[bewsted]

Thanks guys, i am just getting so frustrated with this.

[twinturbo_rotary]

yeah your problem is using a drill, a long time ago i bought a buffing kit for my drill and it looked ok but no where as good as when using a strong buffer/benchtop grinder.

[daz2206]

i had the same problems with the haze and by applying more pressure it dissapeared, im only using a 2/3rd hp bench grinder so have to let it pick up speed, polish, pick up speed, polish, bit of a pain but untill i get a decent machine il have to live with it.

[rodman13]

Are you looking at it under flouresant lighting. If it looks ok outside it might probably be as good as it will get. Some aluminum is better casted than others. Is it an american part? If so I would go to the junk yard and try same process on a nissan valve cover. I bet you get nice mirror. If so it might be the aluminum. Also flat spots are hard to get perfect.

[chcustom]

Is the haze you are getting over the entire piece or is it in lines?

D.J.
www.CHCustom.com

[asallwey]

Bewsted,

Just curious, but what car & year is the valve cover from? I did some 1973 Triumph parts some time ago and found them very soft. I always seemed to get microscratches, so I finished with hand polishing.

Alex

[bewsted]

The hazing is on the whole piece. But if you look at it from different angles it looks like a mirror. But straight on it has the haze.

The valve cover is off of a 2004 Dodge SRT-4.

Thanks for all the help guys!!

[chcustom]

Hey Alex, I agree with the Triumph parts, they can be a pain in the butt. We have done quite a few Primary covers off of 60's model Triumphs and it is hard to get a good scratch free surface.

bewsted: From my experience it could be one of many things or a combination of multiple things. Here's What I would do......If the part was cast and not polished to begin with I would start with 80 grit sand paper and work up to about 320. After the 320 I have had GREAT results with the 400 Greasless Compound. The 80 grit should be the step in which you smooth out all of the casting marks and pits. For every grit after that your goal should be to get out all of the scratches left from the previous sand paper. Sand, Sand, Sand. If you think you have sanded all of the previous scratches out, sand it all again because you probably didn't get them all out. The best method I have found is to switch direction with each grit of sand paper and compound. After the 400 greaseless move on to the Emory, Tripoli, then the White compounds. I have also found that on some aluminum pieces it is benificial to finish the job off with the "RED" Rouge on a loose wheel.

It could also be that you are just being too hard on your work. I found in the begining stages of my polishing career, what I thought was a bad polishing job, the customers were MORE than happy with. Regardless of how much you polish, you will never get out all scratches and hazieness, all you can do is hope to minimize it. That's why people choose chrome for a lot of finishes, because it is much harder than aluminum.

Remember, there something like 40,000 diferent types of aluminum most of which will probably require adjustments in your polishing process.

Sorry that was so long, hope it helps.

D.J.
www.CHCustom.com

[mpierich]

Originally Posted by chcustom

Here's What I would do......If the part was cast and not polished to begin with I would start with 80 grit sand paper

All great advice...but have you tried starting with 120? I abandoned 80 after a few months. I know it's a bit faster, but with the 120 you save at least one step...

'Course, different strokes...most of this stuff boils down to whatever works anyhow.

[chcustom]

Good point mpierich, just today we did a polishing job on a set of triple trees and started out with 240 grit. They were already fairly polished but just had a few deeper scratches. It really all depends on the condition of the metal at the start. Some of the old Triumph and Shovelhead covers that we have done had 1/8 to 1/4 inch deep gouges in them. At that point you really have no choice but to start at 80 sometimes even 40 or 60 grit.

A few other things I left out of my previous post is the fact that you want to clean between each compound and not to contaminate wheels with more than one compound. Then again, anyone who has taken Caswells advice and read the polishing guide should already know this.

Later All, D.J.
www.CHCustom.com