Is this possible. . .

[ZeroSignal]

I just recently stumbled across this site and I'm pretty excited to give this polishing a shot. . .I was wondering if this throttle body and upper intake plenum would be polishable? The throttle body seems reasonable aside from the wierd shape, the intake looks pretty rough. These are both the stock pieces on a 5.0 Mustang in case anyone has had any direct experience with these items. The intake plenum picture is really close up so it is alittle exagerated.



I don't have any experience with metal polishing but since I'm a hardcore DIY'er and I want to get this done, I was hoping someone here could help a newb.

Would the greaseless compounds be the right solution to take down that rough texture left from the cast? I was thinking I would have to start with 80 and go up through to the black then brown compounds.

I have a Dremel tool for the throttle body, but I think I might invest in the flexible shaft tool I saw here for the larger stuff. I don't have a bench grinder, but if I really needed one, I might pick up a cheap-o one as Harbor Freight.

As for the wheels, I was wondering how long a wheel would last while using each grit greaseless, and how long the actual compound would last for each grit. I'm not sure how many wheels to buy or how much of each compound I'll need to finish this.

Thanks in advance for any help

[marsfrogie]

Absolutely start with the greaseless compounds. You will need one wheel per each greaseless/buffing compound you use. You will not wear out any of your wheels while buffing that part, they last quite a long time. I would start right at 80grit.

I would do the following:

80grit - spiral sewn
180grit - spiral sewn
240grit - spiral sewn
(Caswell offers a new compound called super sisal compound. I haven't tried this but they say it is more abrasive than the emery. I would think that this compound would be best to use after 240, because it does take quite a bit of time with the emery after 240) - sisal
Emery - sisal
Tripoli - spiral sewn
White - spiral or loose sewn

[ZeroSignal]

Great, thanks. I can't wait to get started.