Anyone know how to? i wanna do it with it still on the car and not taking it apart, could i take a wire brush to it? ive never really polished anything before

 

check out eastwood.com, a wire brush may clean any corrosion but will leave you with a scratched to hell alt best way is to get a polishing pad(s) some compound, sand paper to get it smooth a few various grits, lower the better, then used somthing such as a high speed drill and get to work with your polishing pad(s)

 

http://www.eastwood.com/buffing/meta...18-pc-kit.html

this looks like a good deal and then u could continue with it on other stuff maybe even make some$$$

 

You HAVE HAVE HAVE to take the Alt apart to do the polishing, or else you'll get all the metal shavings and dirt inside and completely ruin it

 

oky, any danger in this or is it hard to do?

 

I've personally never done it, but I would imagine picking up a used alternator to take apart and polish would be much easier and teach you how to do it.

Then if you liked the casing, you could swap the casings, or just put the used one back together and try it out on your car.

GPONA.com has a section where they talk about powdercoating and polishing things.

 

Yes

Not gonna happen, especially if you want to do a decent job. You could theoretically do the easily exposed parts- but IMO its not worth getting all that sanding grit and polishing gunk shot into the alternator.

The best way- as said above, is to remove it, and totally disassemble the case.

A wire brush isn't going to do much of anything- a wire wheel spinning on a drill may shine it up a little bit by knocking the oxide layer off (aluminum forms a dull, protective coating when it oxidizes instead of rust like steel)- but the bad thing is the surface finish of the aluminum is as-cast, and as such is very rough- so it will be very difficult to get a uniform finish- and it will be hard to maintain. Since it is so rough, you won't be able to use a polish as it oxidizes again, you'll just have to rebuff it (and again, think where all that oxide material is going- getting slung into the alternator and all over your engine).


The correct process for buffing aluminum is actually pretty tough and time consuming if you're looking for a mirror shine.

You first need to start by getting the entire surface flat and smooth. No buffing compound is going to cut through the rough surface on the alternator in a timely fashion- to speed the process you either need to get a sanding flapwheel (sandpaper attached radially to a shaft)- use the highest grit that takes the finish down in a quick manner- you want the surface smooth, except for the scratches from the sandpaper). The other option is to use greaseless compounds:

http://www.eastwood.com/greaseless-compound.html

Which allow you to use a buff wheel as a sander- just pick the grit compound you want. I personally used this stuff for the big open surfaces because I wanted to get the surface as uniform as possible (if you use a tiny dremel flapwheel, its possible to end up with a wavy- non smooth surface because some areas are lower than others).

After that, clean it thoroughly to get all the grit off- and put on your roughing compound- I used Tripoli on a spiral buff wheel (both pretty aggressive):

http://www.eastwood.com/ew-buff-comp...3-oz-tube.html

http://www.eastwood.com/spiral-sewn-buff-wheel.html

After you get a uniform surface from that (should look all flat and smooth, just not quite mirror like- yet)- thoroughly wash the part again, and finish it off with your finishing compound- I used white rouge on a loose wheel (both very unagressive):

http://www.eastwood.com/ew-buff-comp...4-oz-tube.html

http://www.eastwood.com/loose-section-buff-wheel.html


As a final step (after washing the part again)- I get a soft cloth, and some aluminum hand polish- and go over the whole part to really bring out the shine. It will be a mirror already, but you can add a little more luster with the ultra fine grit of hand polish. You could also seal it with Zoop seal or something similar. Keep in mind, if you do polish it like this- you'll have to keep up with hand polishing or it will all turn dull gray as it oxidizes.

Obviously you need a buffer/grinder for this job (you could do it with something else like a drill or dremel- but its so much easier with the big wheel, and a high power motor that doesn't bog so bad).

The hard thing about the alternator- is that a big bench buffer setup can only hit maybe 80-90% of the surface- you'll still have to get into the vent holes and some other spots with a dremel or die grinder. I would say if you've never done buffing before- forget the alternator unless you can pick up a used scrap one for the case.

Maybe try and find something smaller that's aluminum to try first- the 3800's have an aluminum thermostat housing- and that is very simple to buff out- you can pretty much go straight to the compound once you grind down a few minor casting lines. Not sure if there is something on your 3400 that would be similar and easy.

One note of caution- especially when using the aggressive compounds- be careful with your grip on the part- your buffer can easily launch the part if you lose your grip.

Here are some pics of my alternator during my last stages of assembly (some stuff is still kinda dirty because I was making sure certain stuff fit ok before I did my final assembly):





As you can tell, I didn't do inside the vent holes- and it looks bad without that done. I simply ran out of time- and didn't have any more small buff left that would polish inside there (I was only a couple weeks from the swap, and would've had to order more buffs- and I had enough else going on at the time anyways with school and finals and such). I hadn't done any hand buffing on the parts and such yet- hence why nothing really looks super shiny (plus I think the camera kills some of the effect that you get in person from polished parts anyways).

 

very nice.

i always dreamed of keeping something in my livingroom to polish.


milzy powdercoats, as im sure a few local shops do.

what kind of coat do they put on cai, such as wizardair and coldairinductions???

how universal are alternators for gm???

im pretty sure you can use any newer gm alternator, you would just have to make custom brackets.

 

I wouldn't waste my time with custom brackets or anything- there are tons of 3400s in junkyards- I'm sure one wouldn't cost more than $50 on the high end- heck a whole remanufactured alternator probably doesn't go for much more than $125.

 

i was saying that they make higher amo alternators, that come in a variety of finishes. im pretty sure he has a 102 amper and im starting to think my 125 isnt enough for me.

i just got my summit catalog and was checking out all the shiney stuff.

thought id throw in my 3 cents. i know nothings free