damn man..... thats a lot of work. Too bad you didn't have a sand blaster to take the first black coat off.

 

my fingers hurt just looking at those pictures.... that polished DI concept is a sharp one, may hafta attempt a few of those. I have a few DI's to play with anyways.

 

damn man..... thats a lot of work. Too bad you didn't have a sand blaster to take the first black coat off.

I almost had a sandblaster. i took the parts to a media blaster who used walnut shells instead of sand. it was also in my previous post. but yeah, it is a lot of work. but its entertaining seeing the people walk by my door, seeing me in my room polishing stuff. lol

Nick

 

what did you use to strip the paint off?

im tired of my gay ass state of nine badly powdercoated valve cover

 

WALNUT SHELLS!!!!
take it to a shop that does sandblasting. you can't use walnut shells on powdercoat, that is a job for sandblasting. and if you want, i might be polishing the valve cover thats on my car to sell. ill have to look into how much time it takes to do this one. lol

Nick

 

yeah, i have a valve cover that i want to polish, but i need that damn black paint off first... lol....

EDIT: what did you use for polishing buffer and stuff.... where did you get it, and was it expensive?.....

 

ok so find a sandblaster. that is the absolute best way to get the black paint off. see my first post, and the first picture. i tried to get the black paint off myself and got nowhere fast. that little bit i got off took probably 2 hours...not fun lol.

and to polish, i went to home depot and found a great little kit. its got 3 sized cotton buffing wheels, a drill adapter (works amazing with a corded drill that spins to 2500rpms), and three different buffing compounds. grand total on the package, 9 bucks. best deal ive ever found at home depot.

Nick

 

Update: DI is FINISHED (to my likings). and the valve cover is coming along nicely, no new pics of it yet.
heres the pics you want to see

http://x10.putfile.com/4/9401212843.jpg

http://x10.putfile.com/4/9401201817.jpg
all the polishing has led me to the drink....lol just kidding.

http://x10.putfile.com/4/9401192037.jpg

Nick

 

Dang!

That looks really nice!

Are you going to do a clear coat of some kind?

 

i honestly have no idea. i will take that when it comes. i will probably just use some metal polish that i have that leaves a "silicone film to protect the finish" as it says on the container, unless someone has any other suggestions


Nick

 

looking good nick. its hard work but if you take your time, the results are well worth it. as you now know....... its all in the preparation. i've got a few more tricks up my sleeve for my car. slow and steady seems to be my motto lately.
good job,
dave

 

oh man...a few more tricks up your sleeve. better hang on guys, cause it sounds like something huge and new is coming, other than insane amounts of power.

and yeah, for anyone taking the steps to do this, it is truly all about the prepping. ive used so much 80 grit sandpaper to get all the imperfections out of the cast aluminum, that i cant even count the sheets. AND THEY STILL ARENT PERFECT!!! but again, like i said before, this IS my DD, so i didnt want it to be so perfect that i was afraid to get them a little dirty. i really just wanted something that with a little elbow grease for a few minutes before a show, would polish up nicely and i wouldnt be ashamed of popping my hood, like we all were at that Worcester show, and i now have what i wanted, with the DI at least, since thats all that is finished right now. pics of the DI in the car are coming tomorrow probably.

Nick

 

and some of you might call me crazy, but i found that all this sanding and work, is actually kind of fun. as you progress doing the work, you see sides of parts that have once been black paint, that turn to dull dull aluminum with many imperfections, to smooth metal, then to shiny smooth metal. i kind of like it, it keeps me busy when i have nothing to do, and the past week here in maine has been really good weather, so i was sitting out in the sun doing it. its a great sense of accomplishment when people walk by and say "wasnt that black a few days ago? it looks really nice now."

but then there are the ones that always ask "why?", and my response to them is "if you have to ask why, you wouldnt understand!"

Nick

 

. AND THEY STILL ARENT PERFECT!!! but again, like i said before, this IS my DD, so i didnt want it to be so perfect that i was afraid to get them a little dirty. i really just wanted something that with a little elbow grease for a few minutes before a show, would polish up nicely and i wouldnt be ashamed of popping my hood, like we all were at that Worcester show, and i now have what i wanted, with the DI at least, since thats all that is finished right now. pics of the DI in the car are coming tomorrow probably.

Nick

don't worry about getting them perfect.......trust me........you will never get them perfect. i kept sanding and sanding and sanding and the pourous casting was forever staring back at me. i finally had to say 1 more hour and that's that.

 

.....
but then there are the ones that always ask "why?", and my response to them is "if you have to ask why, you wouldnt understand!"

Nick

I like that little quote ...

But yeah, I will be making a trip to Home Depot to look for that polishing kit... ... I need to refinish my aero wheels too

 

don't worry about getting them perfect.......trust me........you will never get them perfect. i kept sanding and sanding and sanding and the pourous casting was forever staring back at me. i finally had to say 1 more hour and that's that.

yeah, with the DI, i got it as best as i could. pictures help my cause, but if you see it in person, there are still some casting marks, and the letters on the DI are a pain in the ass. i could not figure out how to get at them, so i just kind of went around em and got them as best as i could. they seem to have been gotten pretty well, which i am happy about, but its definitely not perfect.....but i can deal.

Nick

 

I did my first valve cover like that di looks, then when i did the second cover i lost interest lol, so I didnt even finish it

 

Man that looks like fun! For those letters on the DI you could probably use a dremel with a sanding drum/wheel on it to get in around the letters.

i wouldnt be ashamed of popping my hood, like we all were at that Worcester show

Hey I popped my hood!

 

Hey I popped my hood!

And I dare say you had good reason to It was purdy in there, especially for the winter!

Nick, the DI looks sick, cant wait to get this c900 valve cover sand blasted this weekend, and start polishing it next week. Ill bring up a dremel with a polishing wheel if I can find one and Ill definatly bring up my buffing wheel.

-Ryan

 

WALNUT SHELLS!!!!
take it to a shop that does sandblasting. you can't use walnut shells on powdercoat, that is a job for sandblasting. and if you want, i might be polishing the valve cover thats on my car to sell. ill have to look into how much time it takes to do this one. lol

Nick

sorry in one of the pics it looked like you had been using a stripped on some clothes...i have a sandblaster

 

Man I commend you on the patience that you have. I would be bored after the first hour...if I even made it that long

 

It takes a shit load of work doing those by hand - I have done two, a c900 valve cover (with the lines/grooves), and a 9000 2.3 valve cover. I commend your work!

 

nice job Nick, looks great

 

Man that looks like fun! For those letters on the DI you could probably use a dremel with a sanding drum/wheel on it to get in around the letters.

I actually tried a dremel and used it for about half of the things with the DI. i cant find a sanding bit that will get in the tight areas. i can live with it, cause it really isnt that noticable.
and yes, you had a good reason to pop your hood. it was mighty clean in there.

sorry in one of the pics it looked like you had been using a stripped on some clothes

that is all the grease that was on the top of the valve cover when i picked it up, so i got it off with some paper towels.

But thanks all your your compliments. this is rather time consuming, but well worth it in the end.

Nick

 

Why not strip it clean and get it chromed? I know there is self-satisfaction in doing the job yourself, but can you say arthritis?

It really looks like you're doing a good job though!