[maxvdp1993]

hey guys

the engine of my Gt-junior is quite dirty(picture of the green one) and i would like to polish the engine covers
like in the picture of the red one


does anyone have any tips

on which products and equipment to use ?
should i be careful with certain things ?

 

[Berlinista]

just don't.

Take it off, take it to an engine shop, revisiebedrijf, have them chemically wash it, so it is perfectly clean.
Install new gaskets under the nuts holding the cover. Clean up the nuts as well.
Also replace the gasket betwee head and cover, and it will look awesome.

 

[bellagt]

You might want to consider having it done by someone else. I recall there used to be a parts supplier that had polished covers ready to go and you send your cover in as a core exchange. If you wanted your cover polished, you could ship it to them and then have to wait several weeks for the turnaround. Try calling JoeCab at Centerline if this is an option you're interested in.

 

[AlessandroM]

Is it really that hard that would have someone else do it? Polishing Aluminium is such a well-documented process, what could possibly go wrong?

 

[NigelR]

Search is your friend. Plenty of tips on here already, for example: http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/car-restoration/192532-polishing-valve-cover.html. This thread will explain why you might want to get someone else to do it!

Personally I'm with Berlinista, I think clean rather than shiny shiny looks much better but I like the original look on these engines. But it's yours to do with as you wish of course.

 

[39cub]

Here's my '65 GT. Valve cover cleaned, bead blasted then dusted with a light coat of Seymor's "Alumi Blast" paint for corrosion protection.

ALUMI BLAST® - Seymour of Sycamore

Chuck

 

[tuttebenne]

^^^ Awesome! I love the stock appearance of it.

 

[f4driver]

Don't do facebook so I can't like this but 39cub engine bay is simply wonderful
chuck

 

[mytype]

39cub: great result!

f4driver: you don't need facebook to like a response in a thread just click the 'Like' text next to the Share text.

 

[Alfajay]

i would like to polish the engine covers
like in the picture of the red one does anyone have any tips

Setting aside the morality of polishing an Alfa cam cover, a generic product like Mothers Aluminum Polish will work pretty well. If you have deep pits or casting marks, you can start with fine emory cloth.

 

[maxvdp1993]

This sounds to me like the birth of a resto, once Maxvpd1993 polishes the cam cover it will highlight that the whole engine bay will need doing, then the paintwork, then the interior, then etc.........Vuala, resto!

Note that if you really want a nice finish for any of your aluminium parts without the need of further maintenance, you should look at having the part Hydro Blastered, it peens the aluminium with fantastic results without damaging the surface.

thanks everyone for the comments and help

yes indeed was thinking about that when I polish the valve covers it wil highlight the engine bay needs some work. But this wil be a kind of little project, making the complete engine bay cleaner.
maybe first i'm going to take a look on what to replace and restart to give it a cleaner look.


Kind regards

Max

 

[Nakagtv]

I polished mine by hand, try to get the darkest spots first and then blend it with the rest. Used metal polish on soft wooden stick to erase those small spots and then just buff the whole thing with towels. Wanted clean original look. This is what I ended up with:

 

[Subtle]

The PO of my 67 Super had the cam covers and plenum polished.

Looks good and not blingy.

:cool2:

 

[maxvdp1993]

I polished mine by hand, try to get the darkest spots first and then blend it with the rest. Used metal polish on soft wooden stick to erase those small spots and then just buff the whole thing with towels. Wanted clean original look. This is what I ended up with:

hey your engine covers look amazing, nice and clean and an not to shiny
what do you mean on a soft wooden stick ?
and which kind of polish did you use ?

kind regards

Max

 

[Nakagtv]

Polishing aluminium

hey your engine covers look amazing, nice and clean and an not to shiny
what do you mean on a soft wooden stick ?
and which kind of polish did you use ?

kind regards

Max

I use English Custom Polishing, good stuff for hand polishing. I think any aluminium polish will work, Eagle One's "Nevr Dull" wadding polish works well to get rid of blotchy spots too. Use the tip of the stick like you would use a pencil dipped in polish or nevr dull wrapped on it and use it like an eraser just on those dark spots. Shave/shape the tips to match the shapes/contours you are rubbing on. Almost like coloring or painting with a pencil. Then pass with a towel, kinda blending the spot you polished with the rest. Try not to over polish one spot more than the rest, the idea is to get everything to even color, then polish the whole thing with towel and metal polish.
When I sent my engine for a rebuild it was full of crud black stuff inside. To clean the internals, so much degresser/cleaner was used that it made the outside looking dark with acid/cleaner marks and blotches all over. If you are an insomniac like me Nevr Dull and some elbow grease can get you these results (do not think I'd have a patience to do this fully awake)

 

[gnuts]

Eastwoods sells Buffing polishing kits that you can use with your drill or a grinder.

Good tutorial on polishing Aluminium.

 

[gigem75]

Not a chrome look but a nice shine works for me. It takes a machine, lots of polishing sticks and lots of time.

 

[dlbehrns]

My 2cents: Mother's is fine for the final buff but, where I started was with sandpaper, just like you would if you were polishing out a blemish on your paint job or aluminum wheel. The aluminum is much more forgiving though. Just keep working down to finer and finer grit until you are wet sanding, literally, with 2000 to 2500. Make your last passes with Mother's. Sanding with something a coarse as 300, then 800, then 1000 will eliminate a lot of work. all you do by starting with Mother's is find out what you can't get rid of unless to go with sandpaper first. If you really want to get picky you can detail around the front top letters and indentations with a Dremmel tool and buffing fobs. I could have worked on mine for weeks like I did my aluminum rims but I keep some of the flaws for authenticity.

 

[tuttebenne]

Sorry for this empty post but I'm a newbie and need 10 posts before I can post a link.

 

[tuttebenne]

One more and I should be good to go.