Detailing: How to polish your valve cover
03-30-2009, 01:51 PM
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How to polish your valve cover
I've had allot of people ask me how I polished my valve cover on my car. Well this last weekend I did it for a friend, and decided I would make a how to on it. I take no responsibility for any damage caused to your parts by following this procedure.
The number one rule to polishing anything is your finish is only as good as your finest sandpaper.
Step one would be to remove whatever part your going to be working on and asses the condition of it. For example is it rough to the touch, is there nicks in the material, is there any casting lines on it, etc.... The condition of the part will tell you where to start if it is rough to the touch you will need extra steps that are not included in this how to. No worries though all you need is extra sanding steps with coarser sand paper and maybe even a die grinder. In my case the valve cover i was working on had only minor flaws so I skipped these extra steps.
ALL IMAGES ARE CLICKABLE THUMBNAILS
Lets start with the tools you will need for this project.
1) you will need a wide assortment of sand paper depending on the condition of your piece mine was pretty smooth to the touch so my sand paper assortment was.
400grit, 600grit, 800grit, 1000grit, 1500grit, and 2000grit
2) You will need soapy water for wet sanding.
3) A sanding block will come in useful on the flat surfaces.
4) A dremel type tool with plenty of sanding and polishing attachments for all those hard to reach spots.
5) A drill and buffing bonnets for the drill for those spots were the buffer cannot reach, if you don't have a buffer you can use these instead.
6) Tripoli bars black, brown, and white
7) Not needed but makes life a whole lot easier a bench mounted buffer, I got the 6" because all the local stores carry the bonnets for it. I wanted the 8" but could not find the needed bonnets.
Now for the procedure
1) asses the condition of your part, as you can see mine was in very good condition smooth to the touch and hardly any rough spots. If your part is rough you may need extra sanding steps not covered in this how to.
2) I do all my sanding wet the sandpaper seems to last longer and it works just as well so take your pan of soapy water and soak your 400grit sand paper for a min or 2 then start sanding away. You will need your dremel in the tight spaces and you can use your sanding block on the flat surfaces. be sure all your rough spots are smooth in this step, this one takes the longest. here is what mine looked like when i was finished.
3) I wash my part in between each sanding so I know I have complete coverage and didn't miss any spots, once you do that you can begin wet sanding with the 600grit sand paper. It is essential that you remove all the sanding marks from the 400grit on this step I like to sand 90 degrees from the 400 grit marks so I can be sure all my 600grit marks are out. Once again use your dremel for the hard to reach areas and your sanding block n the flat surfaces. Once all the 400 grit marks are out wash your part and it should look like this.
4) repeat step 3 with 800 grit sandpaper again be sure you remove all the previous sanding marks and wash your part. It should look like this.
The number one rule to polishing anything is your finish is only as good as your finest sandpaper.
Step one would be to remove whatever part your going to be working on and asses the condition of it. For example is it rough to the touch, is there nicks in the material, is there any casting lines on it, etc.... The condition of the part will tell you where to start if it is rough to the touch you will need extra steps that are not included in this how to. No worries though all you need is extra sanding steps with coarser sand paper and maybe even a die grinder. In my case the valve cover i was working on had only minor flaws so I skipped these extra steps.
ALL IMAGES ARE CLICKABLE THUMBNAILS
Lets start with the tools you will need for this project.
1) you will need a wide assortment of sand paper depending on the condition of your piece mine was pretty smooth to the touch so my sand paper assortment was.
400grit, 600grit, 800grit, 1000grit, 1500grit, and 2000grit
2) You will need soapy water for wet sanding.
3) A sanding block will come in useful on the flat surfaces.
4) A dremel type tool with plenty of sanding and polishing attachments for all those hard to reach spots.
5) A drill and buffing bonnets for the drill for those spots were the buffer cannot reach, if you don't have a buffer you can use these instead.
6) Tripoli bars black, brown, and white
7) Not needed but makes life a whole lot easier a bench mounted buffer, I got the 6" because all the local stores carry the bonnets for it. I wanted the 8" but could not find the needed bonnets.
Now for the procedure
1) asses the condition of your part, as you can see mine was in very good condition smooth to the touch and hardly any rough spots. If your part is rough you may need extra sanding steps not covered in this how to.
2) I do all my sanding wet the sandpaper seems to last longer and it works just as well so take your pan of soapy water and soak your 400grit sand paper for a min or 2 then start sanding away. You will need your dremel in the tight spaces and you can use your sanding block on the flat surfaces. be sure all your rough spots are smooth in this step, this one takes the longest. here is what mine looked like when i was finished.
3) I wash my part in between each sanding so I know I have complete coverage and didn't miss any spots, once you do that you can begin wet sanding with the 600grit sand paper. It is essential that you remove all the sanding marks from the 400grit on this step I like to sand 90 degrees from the 400 grit marks so I can be sure all my 600grit marks are out. Once again use your dremel for the hard to reach areas and your sanding block n the flat surfaces. Once all the 400 grit marks are out wash your part and it should look like this.
4) repeat step 3 with 800 grit sandpaper again be sure you remove all the previous sanding marks and wash your part. It should look like this.
Last edited by TommyP; 10-03-2012 at 12:56 PM.
05-20-2009, 04:13 PM
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No some reason they did not add the rest of it lol I just noticed that too.
They have to approve the how-tos so I did not get to finish posting it but here is the complete how to lol
http://gmofhouston.pyros777.com/foru...p?showtopic=69
They have to approve the how-tos so I did not get to finish posting it but here is the complete how to lol
http://gmofhouston.pyros777.com/foru...p?showtopic=69
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