Topic: How to Polish Covers/parts

[CBR954AD]

Morning CB lovers,
I bought a bench grinder yesterday, it came with a grinding wheel and one polishing wheel. what compound should I get to do a good polish job on valve cover, stator , clutch,etc? do I need different polishing wheels? my brother said at his school they use 3M rubbing compound when polishing aluminum with hand held air polisher tool, and it has 2-3 different pads .
thank you

[chewbacca5000]

We'll first you need to remove the oxidized clear coat with sandpaper or glass bead.  I would avoid anything harsher than glass as it will embed itself quite easily.

For compound I have a dual sized free standing grinding wheel with one medium and one soft buffing wheels.  On the medium I use a a grey compound some use red, but I prefer gray for aluminium.  On the soft wheel use white compound in a bar or mothers polish.  Autosol works wonders for a final finishing.  It is quite pricey though.

[strynboen]

i use just one type vax..butto get mirror looks you need 2 types

[Johnie]

I have a 6 inch Craftsman bench buffer I use. You need to get the alumimun hot to let it flow a little when you are buffing. The first thing you should do is use a chemical stripper to remove the clear coat on those covers. The red rouge will take it off, but it does take a while. It is much easier if you let the stripper get it off for you. But go ahead and experiment with it. The red rouge is a rougher system which will cut faster and deeper. The green rouge will take out the marks from the red. The white will take out the finer marks from the green and give you a nice look. When done some guys clear it again, but I never clear as I want to be able to touch it up whenever I feel like it. However, I have never had to touch it up with the wheel. I just use Semichrome or MAAS polish to make it look great again. A caution for you, use safety glasses and a dust mask as it is dirty work. Plus, a good thick work glove as the aluminum gets hot. Take your time and let the rouge do the work. Use one color rouge per wheel. Do not use the red wheel with green rouge. You do not want to cross contaminate the buffing wheels. It takes time so do not rush the process. Good luck with it.