Had a pop at polishing some engine bits and bobs.....

[Jimbo]

Well I thought "How hard can it really be?" so I grabbed a few likely looking bits and bobs to have a pop at.





I'd already acquired one of these puppies with a home made stand as I can't be arsed waiting for one to come...




First I took one dizzy blanking disc (my heads have the dizzy bit machined off) some before shots..




.and some first stage polish shots....




It really really came up like a mirror

Next something a bit more "Technical" a dirty sh1ty stat...



Wow this came up just as well!




Alas I've discovered the joy of "Snagging" as in it caught the mop and launched across the room and snapped a bit off! Never mind a shiney......................trophy..



I thought at this point I should calm down and start stripping the paint of these..




I thought I'd try a bit of stainless steel next. As it's supposed to be much harder to polish. I suspect this used to be shiney as it came up quite easy...



Then I had a pop at a trumpet this wasn't quite as easy as the stat etc... The one on the left is the polished one in case you can't tell..



Next when I finally got the "F"ing paint of the cam belt cover I noticed that they are very very badly pitted and really need sanding down first but as I ain't got any suitable disc the best I could do was a wizz over with 80 grit then I sat there like a muppet with some 180 wet for ages and then I tried to buff it up.... well a corner of it!



So I'm thinking that it isn't as easy as everyone seems to think! I appreciate that I have a very very limited supply of the necessary grades of disc's and compounds but these larger parts are proving to be a bit of an arse!lmao

Suggestions or advice chaps and chapesess..

[DragXE]

Noticed the throttle bodies airfilter backing plate, you got a filter to go with that ?? you keeping it??

[Jimbo]

yup'n'yup

[DragXE]

oh ok never mind

[Steve!]

Well done, when you get more supplies, could be a little earner, fuel/beer money.

[Jasovanooo]

would one o fthose mops be available on a grinder/simialr

[Nemesis]

Don't be disheartened about the cambelt cover, I have a professional polisher do mine and they still come out pitted. It's the age of the metal, and the fact it is a poor grade of alloy.

Those are some good results you have there

[Steve!]

would one o fthose mops be available on a grinder/simialr

Of course, what you see above is a grinder!


Bloody hell, cheap

Ebay
6" bench grinder

[Astraghoul]

angle grinder with a mop attachment and a variety of differing compound polishing pastes (valve grinding paste might be a good idea for the cambelt cover, start with the fine paste first tho, then use some proper polishing pastes)


*edit* some good results already though, keep up the good work

[Jimbo]

Cheers! offski top gear innit!

[bux]

my dad attempeted to polish up my cambelt cover and as chav said the alloy is very poor quality!! it came out really poor and we gave up in the end!

to get the best finish you need to use the different attatchemnts and different grade polish compounds! my dad has about 10 different wheels and loads of different colour compounds to put on the wheels.........i did a few bits on my engine and you can get very good results if you take the time to do it!

[Jimbo]

You got any "gen" On this bux? What and where he bought them etc. I fully understand the need for different grades wheels etc I've just tried a "cheapo" set up to get any idea of the work needed. I'm a body work man and the sanding discs I've got don't last two minutes on metal. I wonder if I can get summat a bit more substantial?

Chav, Your mate does this kind of thing doesn't he? Do you know where or what stuff he uses??

[Nemesis]

Chav, Your mate does this kind of thing doesn't he? Do you know where or what stuff he uses??

I haven't a clue mate, sorry. I know he uses a similar setup to you, and the results are very good.

[Astraghoul]

had a quick search on jeeves and found these

http://www.algasan.co.uk/products.htm

http://www.abrasive-systems.co.uk/?g...FTpYMAodJk20eA

dont know if they will be of any use or not but its a start i guess

[bux]

my dad goes to bike shows (like auto jumbles) and he gets alot of it from there, but he has just said he has seen it on ebay before......

[Ghost_Walker]

just a thought jimbo. thicker gloves. polishing like that creates a hell of a lot of heat

[Jimbo]

lmao Yup I did swap after a while! Any latex melted to finger tip gen? My first thought was I could feel the heat keep things moving etc etc. **** that. Thick ass gloves went on matelmao

[Ghost_Walker]

i use a pair of welding gauntlets. good for holding the smaller bits too.

[Jasovanooo]

Of course, what you see above is a grinder!


Bloody hell, cheap

Ebay
6" bench grinder

no **** dickwad you know i meant angle grinder...

[Delta-Force]

man i need another bench grinder and a polishing wheel again i used to do all sorts when i had bikes was looking at my E16SE in my corsa the other night thinking hmmmm when summer gets here i will attack the rocker cover and some other small bits and tidy everything up nice

I used to buff it up with some wet and dry then cover the wheel in t cut and boy did it shine not quite professional but it looked nice and shiney eather way

[Gaz86]

teh thermostat housing looks pukka
ive tried this (and given up) hats off to you for banging on

[Opelluvr]

WOW, that looks nice.

[lee303]

you want the polish/compound that comes in a soap like bar that you rub onto the wheel first, rather than a compiund you put on the metal, believe machine mart sell it

[Jimbo]

That's what I used! The machine mart stuff is what I've got. The thing is bodywork DA discs don't sand metal very well so I'm trying to find out what the professionals use. Flapper wheels and the like no doubt....

[lee303]

ah ok, can you not just get some metal grade discs for your da?