Okay so I was going to do a DIY for painting a bumper, well we had to deal with tornado weather all day yesterday so instead, I decided to do one on how to polish aluminum.

First i took my thermostat housing and hit the hard spots with my dremel tool to get some of the deeper scuffs out of of it.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f138/Essence_DG/polish%20it%20up/DSC02672.jpg

Next I take 400 grit paper and sand it all over.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f138/Essence_DG/polish%20it%20up/DSC02673.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f138/Essence_DG/polish%20it%20up/DSC02674.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f138/Essence_DG/polish%20it%20up/DSC02675.jpg

This is how it will look after hitting it with the 400 grit.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f138/Essence_DG/polish%20it%20up/DSC02676.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f138/Essence_DG/polish%20it%20up/DSC02678.jpg

Next, we used 1000 grit paper and and water sanded to get a majority of the scuffs made by the 400 out.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f138/Essence_DG/polish%20it%20up/DSC02679.jpg

Then repeat the same process with 1500 and 2000 grit paper. By the time you get to 2000 grit, it will feel almost like a sheet of paper..
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f138/Essence_DG/polish%20it%20up/DSC02680.jpg

This is after 1500 grit water sanding.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f138/Essence_DG/polish%20it%20up/DSC02681.jpg

This is after 2000 grit water sanding.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f138/Essence_DG/polish%20it%20up/DSC02682.jpg

Then we used this guy right here. Makita Buffer>*

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f138/Essence_DG/polish%20it%20up/DSC02683.jpg

And used this 3M rubbing compound... Not necessary to use this brand or anything like that, but this is what we had at the shop. I believe you can get some that will work pretty good at an autozone or something similar.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f138/Essence_DG/polish%20it%20up/DSC02687.jpg

It works really well if you have a Vise to mount your buffer too (also a buffer isn't a must, but it makes it a lot easier)...
Note the pieces of wood to keep from scarring the housing.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f138/Essence_DG/polish%20it%20up/DSC02685.jpg

Reversed
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f138/Essence_DG/polish%20it%20up/DSC02689.jpg

****BE VERY CAREFUL DOING THIS ^^^****
it is very easy to loose grip and it will send whatever you're working with flying. If you use a buffer, turn it to a low setting and hold on tightly.

Time to polish. I used the following polish to get the initial polish done.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f138/Essence_DG/polish%20it%20up/DSC02699.jpg

With just a plain old towel. It works pretty well.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f138/Essence_DG/polish%20it%20up/DSC02690.jpg

What it will look like when you finish this step.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f138/Essence_DG/polish%20it%20up/DSC02691.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f138/Essence_DG/polish%20it%20up/DSC02694.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f138/Essence_DG/polish%20it%20up/DSC02709.jpg

Looking decent... I wasn't really satisfied with the final shine yet so I went and bought some of this.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f138/Essence_DG/polish%20it%20up/DSC02731.jpg
Kinda pricey at 15 dollars per can, but I think it will last a long time seeing as i barely used any at all.

Used some of these towels to do my final polishing.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f138/Essence_DG/polish%20it%20up/DSC02732.jpg

I used the white house towel to apply the polish and the yellow towel to remove it.

Here it is after one time of polishing with this stuff
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f138/Essence_DG/polish%20it%20up/DSC02745.jpg

Here is after a second time.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f138/Essence_DG/polish%20it%20up/DSC02777.jpg

The third and final polish.(for me at least, my hand got tired.)
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f138/Essence_DG/polish%20it%20up/DSC02773.jpg

(don't mind the left over that is still on there. I ended up getting it all off. It just takes a while)

This is the DA that was used in the 400 grit process... Forgot to post it.
It isn't a must, but helps to not wear yourself out.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f138/Essence_DG/polish%20it%20up/DSC02696.jpg

dammmmmmn, I wanna do that to my valve cover

give it a go... its not hard at all, it just takes a bit of time. I only focused on the parts that would show once installed...

That took me about 45 minutes to an hour. Plus the final polishing which took me about 20 minutes.

Very nice. Certainly looked great at the end. I love the pictures with you reflected in the metal!!

haha. thanks. it distorts your face kinda like a house of mirrors lol.

UP

oh what thats tight as hell, now how bout the oil filter housing.... get it going

Now you just need to take care of the scratches in your tool box!

hah. i should do some more things. I just got this in the mail thursday and was slow at work friday, so decided to polish it up.

You could skip a bunch of steps there with a pedestal mounted buffing wheel and varying compounds of rouge.

Now you just need to take care of the scratches in your tool box!

lol. its 5 or 6 years old and gets used daily... most things in a shop don't stay "pretty" ;)

thats my dad's anyways :stickoutt

You could skip a bunch of steps there with a pedestal mounted buffing wheel and varying compounds of rouge.

you sure could. you could actually go from 400 to 1500 and then used a tougher compound and polished it.... everything that was used here is also used in painting a car, not strictly for polishing metal. like i said though, you can go to a part store and get some rubbing compound that may work better than this. this is typically made to use on painted surfaces, not a metal.

Here is after a second time.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f138/Essence_DG/polish%20it%20up/DSC02777.jpg



:love

Thats sick

Just a tip.

If you use white rouge then jewelers rouge on a loose buffing wheel in between the 1500 and the mother's you could save yourself from alot of rubbing and get a much deeper shine.

If you use the rouges you only have to do the final polish by hand.

I bought a kit like this (http://cgi.ebay.com/Polishing-Buffing-Kit-w-red-white-rouge-polish-compound_W0QQitemZ200212013519QQihZ010QQcategoryZ6 33QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)and did these wheels.

Before.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v193/onrails/Car/P3240087.jpg

After
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v193/onrails/Car/P7070207.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v193/onrails/Car/P7070208.jpg

Damn that looks nice

I could definitely see this project getting out of hand very quickly if I were to do it in my garage. First the thermostat housing, then the oil filter housing, then the head. . . I'd better leave well enough alone!

Looks good though.

:love
:naughty
Thats sick
thanks ;)
Just a tip.

If you use white rouge then jewelers rouge on a loose buffing wheel in between the 1500 and the mother's you could save yourself from alot of rubbing and get a much deeper shine.

If you use the rouges you only have to do the final polish by hand.


baller

Damn that looks nice
thanks ;)

I could definitely see this project getting out of hand very quickly if I were to do it in my garage. First the thermostat housing, then the oil filter housing, then the head. . . I'd better leave well enough alone!

Looks good though.

I know what you mean. I don't know that I will do anything else. I was just bored and at work and had just gotten the housing in the mail. maybe i will do the engine hook or the vanos cover. :dunno
I may get in the mood to do something else but it will have to be another rainy day project.

lol. its 5 or 6 years old and gets used daily... most things in a shop don't stay "pretty" ;)

thats my dad's anyways :stickouttMy toolbox has stayed pretty, but then there's capital punishment for anyone going near it! I like to keep it tidy for when I sell or upgrade.

hotness.. makes me want to polish whatever i can under the hood of my car lol

i nearly pissed myself when i saw the reflection in this pic..
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f138/Essence_DG/polish%20it%20up/DSC02773.jpg

haha

that's gorgeous.

wow that came out amazing...my buddy had gotten bored one day waiting for some new internals for his 300zx.... he got carried away but once you start you tend to try and do everything

haha so true... i will probably do some more things but i've been soo busy lately. i still have an IOU for a paint diy as soon as i get the time

nice write up good eye catcher , ever taught about powder coating instead

Nice write up on polishing, I did a lot of parts on my 3000GT but I did it a little differently.

See my webpage wrenchmonkey.com for details. I'm still a Bimmerforums Newb so I can post pictures or links yet:(