Anybody ever polish an aluminum intake manifold?

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bighammer

bighammer

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I just thought it would be kinda cool to polish the manifold in my spare time... It will be a while before I need it.

This is a typical, semi - rough casting made of aluminum. Is there a method of sanding, grinding, and polishing one of these? How? 8)

Just thinking of this, don't know if it would be practical. Otherwise, it will get paint or powder coat.

Thanks
 
A friend of mine polished his and he said he will NEVER do that again. I guess it was too much maintenence to keep it looking nice. Paint or powdercoat.
 
I found it to be a lot like working with wood! Course grit getting progressively finer,then your varying rouges !!!Time consuming and dirty as hell !! I chose Powder Coating the next time around !!
 
I've done it. Like others have said, it's a b!tch not because it's hard, it's just time consuming. You start out sanding the really rough stuff with around 180 grit, move to 320, 600, 1000, then 1500. You can keep going from there to even finer paper if you really want a mirror finish but that's where I stopped. Then start rubbing/buffing with compound and polishes.
 
Take it to your local semi-truck shop and ask them to polish it (They do lots of polishing on tanker rigs and whatnot).

Ask them not to overheat/warp it.
 
Tumble polishing take most of the manual labor out of it but every critical detail must be protected with rubber.
 
Dang Benny, I hadn't realized your tumbler was big enough for an intake manifold! What're you using, an old washing machine tub or something?? :-D
 
CudaChick1968 said:
Dang Benny, I hadn't realized your tumbler was big enough for an intake manifold! What're you using, an old washing machine tub or something?? :-D
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I dont actually have one. Previous employers vibra-tumblers.
In fact we once tumbled the interior of a motorcycle gas tank.
We put the medium inside the tank and strapped the tank to the outside of the tumbler drum. It worked :)
 
challengergary said:
I've done it. Like others have said, it's a b!tch not because it's hard, it's just time consuming. You start out sanding the really rough stuff with around 180 grit, move to 320, 600, 1000, then 1500. You can keep going from there to even finer paper if you really want a mirror finish but that's where I stopped. Then start rubbing/buffing with compound and polishes.
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yep...but as far as maintaining its not bad I just polish mine a couple times a year i don't mind it at all 8)
 
I just finished Polishing my intake.. Many many, many hours.. let my rotary tool with sanding rolls do most of the hard work, then hours of hand sanding wet with 400 and 800 grit. Then I used felt ends on my rotary tool with Green and rouge polishing compound to bring out the chrome look.

It's not perfect and it's very hard to get into every nook and cranny, but every surface is smooth. should be easy to keep clean compared to the rough original aluminum surface. Did the same to my water pump and timing cover.

Check out the engine compartment / engine changes in my "10 year refresh" thread in members restorations.

It's still friggin winter here and My garage is not Heated.. Doing most of this polishing in the basement.
 

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ken5124 said:
I just finished Polishing my intake.. Many many, many hours.. let my rotary tool with sanding rolls do most of the hard work, then hours of hand sanding wet with 400 and 800 grit. Then I used felt ends on my rotary tool with Green and rouge polishing compound to bring out the chrome look.

It's not perfect and it's very hard to get into every nook and cranny, but every surface is smooth. should be easy to keep clean compared to the rough original aluminum surface. Did the same to my water pump and timing cover.

Check out the engine compartment / engine changes in my "10 year refresh" thread in members restorations.

It's still friggin winter here and My garage is not Heated.. Doing most of this polishing in the basement.
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man , I could never muster up the patience to do all that work. looks great

I think I will stick with the instant gratification of paint lol
 
And the pictures do not do them justice.. I like it polished a lot better than rough.. Will be easy to clean
 
Polished does look good =P~ 8) I don't have the shoulders and wrist to stay on top of my intakes :coffee2:
So Leanna got my old parts dun up and I just wash them with soap and water.
I need to polish my carb hat some time soon, I am glad it is small 8)

A supporting post for our member in Tennessee CudaChick1968 :coffee2:
 

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73AbodEE said:
man , I could never muster up the patience to do all that work. looks great

I think I will stick with the instant gratification of paint lol
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You & me both......if I ever use that EFI HEMI cross ram I will be sending it to Leanna......

mopardude318 said:
those polished intakes look good! nice job!
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X2.....


A customer of the shop I worked at decades ago wanted his intake polished. Wanted us to do it until he found out how much $$ we were going to charge him. He decided to do it himself......looked really goofy when he bought it to us 1/3 done with a coat of paint covering it. If you are going to start on it finish it, otherwise it is like the folks that start a tattoo & don't finish it because of the pain.....
 
It's a ton of work. I heard you all loud and clear. With all that being said can anyone recommend a good place to get a really good mirror like finish? I apologize in advance, also looking for a place to powder coat my carbs.
 
I like the polish look but was a lot of hand sanding and polishing for sure ... but still looks good after 20 yrs.

340 six pack down.jpg


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