Under hood pieces...Home Polishing..Need Help

[nmeofdst82]

Ok..Here's my deal..I need help.

I'm trying to do what I can to make the engine bay a little nicer for the show season. I have a few ideas but not sure how to go about accomplishing them....

Polish PCM Housing - Its a big metal piece clearly visible...can it be polished and how (at home)?

Magnesium OEM Valve Covers - Can I clean/polish them up a little with them still mounted in the car and how?

Saleen Supercharger Upper Intake - 2 Ideas here...I really want to remove the black finish and get down to bare metal and polish the top shiny...any thoughts? If taking that powder coating off and polishing would be too much, thought about painting it...but it gets very hot and the high temp paint I've found is Barf/boring colors. I have vehicle matched (JV code) paint coming from www.paintscratch.com in a spray can with clearcoat also. I just don't think that paint will hold up to the heat...opinions?

Thanks for any help.

 

[SilentScope]

BRINGING BACK FROM THE DEAD

im interested too

 

[EagleStroker]

Ultra fine steel wool and some aluminum polish (mothers) for the PCM, AC hard lines, etc.... The more time you spend on them the better they will look, the VC's are a whole nother ball game though!

 

[SilentScope]

any diy drill bits/buffs and compounds to be recommended?

 

[Boozshey]

 

[SilentScope]

 

[Rasmus]

Just get your average, over-the-counter polishing kit from Home Depot for your drill. I've used it on loads of stuff, and it has always come out nice. Yeah, there are different compounds for stainless steel, soft metals, plastic, and so on, but it'll work well 8 times out of 10.

Or, you can just get a bunch of terry pads, Turtle Wac Rubbing Compound, and some latex gloves. I was surprised by how well it worked.

 

[Boozshey]

Magnesium OEM Valve Covers - Can I clean/polish them up a little with them still mounted in the car and how?

This has been done, however you will want to seal them with clear coat after or else they will just get shitty again.

 

[doogie]

I used one of these kits from Eastwood for polishing my Mororo tanks and covers with mixed results. http://www.eastwood.com/aluminum-and-brass-buffing-kit.html
Since this was my first attempt at polishing, I seemed to get better the more I did as the brake reservoir came out great. But in the end, the 2 tanks just never looked right as I could not get rid of a haze on the surface. So I am done messing with them and will be sending them, along with my cam covers, out for chrome powder coating.

 

[SilentScope]

I used one of these kits from Eastwood for polishing my Mororo tanks and covers with mixed results. http://www.eastwood.com/aluminum-and-brass-buffing-kit.html
Since this was my first attempt at polishing, I seemed to get better the more I did as the brake reservoir came out great. But in the end, the 2 tanks just never looked right as I could not get rid of a haze on the surface. So I am done messing with them and will be sending them, along with my cam covers, out for chrome powder coating.

thanks! any pics of ure bay?

 

[doogie]

Here you go... you can kind of see the haze on the 2 tanks, whereas the brake reservoir cover really pops and almost has a mirror finish. But without any clear coat, these scratch super easy as put one on the top of the brake cover by simply wiping it with a microfiber towel.

 

[1andonlywhitie]

If they stuff you're cleaning is chrome of some sort of tough shiny metal that's all faded/oxidised...(I know those are the terms for paint, I assume they still apply to metals? ) ...then polish them using that advice up there.^

If they are just dirty the really cheap fix is just to degrease, pressure hose and then Windex to get rid of the streaks...

Also, a tip I picked up from being a detailer... NEVER underestimate the power of tyre shine/Armour All... If everything else in the bay is clean and blackened with some sort of product it makes the shiny bits look even brighter....