you wanna polish a set for me and also polish me up an alternator and the dog bone mount that bolts to the rad support? i have the other part of the dog bone in zzp aluminum ones

 

Maybe haha! Probably wouldn't be worth what I'd have to charge ya though LOL.. I spent over 40 hours on my STB, cross braces, T-stat housing, etc lol. Crazy amount of time. It would be cheaper for you to slowly do it yourself

I went to polish the alternator the other night and was just like no, can't do it haha! I need a week or two off before I touch sandpaper again I may have a set of the polished dog-bone/engine mounts for sale soon though

 

ill buy them right now man thats actually what i want the most so they match my aluminum ones lol

 

if you dont mind me asking what is your process on polishing like this? i may attempt it if i know how lol

 

Won't be done for about a week. I have them on my car currently so I'm waiting to get a backup set. Also I'm waiting for a shipment of sand paper. Going to do 2500 and 3000 grit along with a polishing wheel this time around so hopefully I can eliminate a few small scratches that are still visible in certain lighting.

 

For aluminum stuff such as the t-stat housing I started out at 220. But painted stuff I used a mouse sander and 120 grit to remove all paint and get it to bare metal (stb, cross braces etc.)

Then I used a block with 120 and 220 sand paper just to get the scratches going in the same direction. (referred to as the leveling steps, getting the metal leveled out)

Then I did 320,400,600,800,1000,1500, and 2000 (all wet sanding with lots of water!)

For the 320 and up I used a cross hatching method. Do 320 in one direction, 400 perpendicular so it goes against the grain of the 320.
(^^^This really helps on time, you should see all of your scratches going in the opposite (against) direction of the last grit before you move on. If you did all grits in the same direction you could waste a lot of time and never actually remove some of the deep scratches that occur over time and early on in the sanding process)

I always thought out in advance to make sure the 2000 grit went in the direction of the item (such as long ways for the STB)

This is all I've done with my stuff. Even the 2000 may leave a few smaller/very fine scratches that won't come out without a polishing wheel and compounds, BUT it is still pretty dang good and got me lots of comments so far!)

I always clean the item with water and a rag after each grit then move on. After 2000 just apply your aluminum/metal polish and enjoy

 

Hope all of that made some sense haha! I did quite a bit of research and have found the cross hatch method works the best for older items. Some items such as brand new aluminum can be done in one way but you never really know until you get to the end and there's still scratches. With cross hatching you can clearly see when the old scratches are gone and it's time to move on.

 

totally understand, now do you coat them with anything to prevent rusting/corrosion?

 

I use White Diamond Polish which contains a sealant but with any polished stuff it's recommended to polish them up every once in a while. I've had the t-stat on for about 3 weeks and the mounts for 2 weeks and no issues with surface rust or any rust for that matter. Some people here have said to clear coat but I asked what steps I need to do to clear coat and what types to use but no one answered me on that so I have no clue and apparently others don't either

I read in a few places it's best not to clear coat them because the metal can still dull under the clear coat (unsure if I believe it but I did read it a few places). So it would basically be a waste of time because there's no clean way to remove the clear coat without ending up re-sanding and polishing which I don't think anyone wants to do more than once

 

awesome man, thanks for all the info.... now to decide if i wanna do it lol