Polish that manifold!! Make it SHINE! (tutorial enclosed)

[bhppy101]

I had some time to do some metal polishing today.... It's been a long time (last time I polished my motorcycle frame was about 2 yrs ago).

Since I am still fairly new to the org....I thought that it was time for me to donate some usefull info. I am part of many different forums and orgs. and I try to help everyone out

I hope you find this useful!

Here is the list of materials that you will need to get started:

80 or 100 grit sandpaper.

Palm sander or D/A sander (both optional) *You can just sand by hand if you desire.

Polishing kit or some polishing pads and polishing compounds (3 different grades of compound will be used; Tripoli compound, white compound, and red rouge compound.

Electric drill or electric polisher.

And finally some time and elbow grease!

If you have a drill or polisher already....than the bill of materials is very minimal.....about $20! all of these can be found at Home Depot or Harbor Freight and Tool.




Ok....here are the simple steps to make your manifold shine like a mirror! You will litterally be able to see your reflection!

Step 1: Sand your manifold down so that it is fairly smooth....it will almost be impossible to get all the little pits out without a machine sander. But don't worry....if you are doing it by hand....it will still look great!!



Step2: After you've got things fairly smooth....you will see scratch marks all over the manifold from the sanding...Don't worry! This next step will remove all of the scratches.

Open up your tube of Tripoli polishing compound (tripoli compound is a rough grit compound) and insert your buffing wheel on your drill. The compound is hard and waxy. You will run the drill and let the buffing wheel spin on top of the compound to absorb the stuff into the buffing pad.

[bhppy101]

Step 3: Take the buffing wheel (attatched to your drill or polisher) and run it all over the manifold. It will look kind of hazy...kind of like you are applying wax. Keep buffing the manifold until the scratches are almost gone. You will have to continue and apply more compound until you are satisfied. After you complete this step....you will be staring at your work and saying to yourself OMG it is already sooooooo shiny!!!
But don't stop here! Trust me!! It only gets better!

[bhppy101]

Step 4: Now its time to change the buffing pad on your drill with a new one. You are now going to use the White polishing compound (medium/fine)



Repeat the process again! add some white compound on your buffing wheel by spinning it against the compound stick. Start buffing out manifold until it is super shiny. Remeber to use the compound sparringly because it will continue to haze up your manifold and seem like it will never come off. If you use a little compound at a time....you will notice it removing all of the fine scratches left over from the Tripoli Compound!

Now stand back and admire your work! You will be saying Holy you know what...lol....Its even more shiny than before!!!



BUT WAIT!!!!! You're not done yet!!!

[bhppy101]

Step 5: Now for the last of the compounds...just repeat the same procedure making you use a brand new buffing wheel and the Red Rouge compound!

When you are finished with this step you should be able to see every detail of your reflection on the manifold!!!



Here's what it looks like now!

[bhppy101]

I hope this helps out other members! Total time it took me was ONLY about 2 hrs!

You will be surprized how easy it is to polish metals if this is your first time!

If you have any questions I will be more than glad to help out!!

Good luck!

[oneighturbo]

nice work.

[Oyveychris]

Awesome!

[blaquea8]

KICK @SS!!!
That looks amazing!
Thanks for the How-To on this.
This is a perfect example of why I LOVE newbeetle.org

[Mr B]

Been wanting to do this, thanks for the demonstration.

[bhppy101]

Thanks!

It really is very easy to do....I have just been putting it off until today.

I hope to see more polished manifolds on the org!

[GatorBeetle]

nice

[Toad]

that's one of the best polished 2.0 mk4 manifolds i've seen. I've been on the fence about polishing or painting my manifold. I wan to run angine cover-less, so i'm thinking painting would be better,. but awesome work.

[bhppy101]

Originally Posted by Toad

that's one of the best polished 2.0 mk4 manifolds i've seen. I've been on the fence about polishing or painting my manifold. I wan to run angine cover-less, so i'm thinking painting would be better,. but awesome work.

Thanks Toad.....Painted manifolds look cool....but after a while they dull and have to be recoated....unless you get it powdercoated. Make sure you post your manifold when you're done with it.

[[lot]]

This thread should be moved to the how-to section

[Mr.Yellow]

I totaly agree with the moving this thred to the how to section, and now i reallly really want to pollish my manifold!!!!

[bhppy101]

Thanks!

I have another post going in the car audio forum.....If you want to build yourself a custom fiberglass subwoofer enclosure....check it out! I am taking pictures as I progress with the project.

[marvins_dad]

Looks fantastic!
Great How-To!!!

I didn't see if you pointed this out or not, but if you didn't you need to make sure to cover your altenator so no metal shards find their way into it. I'm only saying this because I know someone (who will remain nameless) that polished his and ruined his altenator.

[Papa Bug]

Thanks for the How to! I like the way it came out.
Also thanks for the tip Antoine!

[r0nd3L]

Wait, I'm a little confused. You only used 100 grit to sand it? Did that rough polisher do the rest of work? Because people that did it on their 1.8T on Vortex spent lots of time sanding up to 2000 or so grit.

[angelusnhc]

this so needs to be stickied