DIY Polishing Metal
 

I dont know if there is a thread about this already. I figured since so many people ask me the steps, that I would just polish a random wheel that I had and make a thread. Well here you go.



Polishing 101
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This can be applied to any metal. I am polishing an SE rim for an example.

Items needed
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Die grinder
Roloc Discs (rough and polishing)
Safety glasses and dusk mask
Sandpaper (220-400-800-1K-1500-2K)
Mothers Polish
Cotton Cloth
1 SE rim

Die Grinder
Attachment 10123

Roloc discs for die grinder. Rough on the left and polishing disc on right.
Attachment 10124

This is a shot of the back side. they just twist on and off quickly
Attachment 10125

Mothers polish and cotton cloth. I used a hanes cotton shirt.
Attachment 10126

Safety glasses and dusk mask. Eye lashes only work so good.
Attachment 10127

And one ugly ass SE rim
Attachment 10128


To get started, clean the rim well with some stripper. I actually just left the paint on the rim and used the discs to remove it. These rims are gonna be for drifting so I am not going to be that anal about it.

This is what the wheel should look like after you went over it with the course then the polishing pads. Notice the swirl marks.
Attachment 10129

Next step is to start wet sanding. I start with 220 grit. This is working back from the polishing pad but in the end you will have a better product. I didnt take a picture of the 220. Make sure you keep your sandpaper wet. I use a bucket and dip the paper into it every so often. If the sandpaper starts to fall apart, you will feel the grits between the paper and the rim, stop sanding right away and dip your paper into the bucket again. the grits will scratch deep into the metal and will take extra effort to sand them out.

This is 400 grit wet sanded.
Attachment 10130

Notice the scratches, this is normal. Dont panic, you didnt ruin your rims.
Attachment 10131

This is 800 grit.
Attachment 10132

Scratches are getting a little smaller.
Attachment 10133

1,000 grit
Attachment 10134

1,500 grit
Attachment 10135

2,000 grit
Attachment 10136

Now clean the rim off really good with some soapy water and dry thoroughly.

Take your polish and cotton cloth and put a little bit on the cloth and start working the polish into the metal. you should have black swirl marks like this.
Attachment 10137

The longer you work at it, the better the shine is gonna be.

Wipe the polish off with a clean part of the rag and this should be the result.
Attachment 10138

Make sure you do a small section at a time. Dont let the polish fully dry on the rim. This step should take you at least 15 minutes.

This should be your end result. Took me about 3 hours total.
Attachment 10139

quick question, i've polished aluminum wheels before and used a three step kit. have you ever seen/used such kits, if so how do the results compare to mothers polishing compound?

well with the kits, you dont need to sand to 2K grit. you sand to like 800 then use the different compounds in a certain order to obtain the same result. I just like to do it this way. It takes about the same ammount of time and I think the results are slightly better.

i see, thanks.

no prob man. just glad I finally made this. now I will just give people the link if they ask. lol

holy freaking ****.

good stuff brother. man im going to polish some **** for sure... i seriously never looked into it before.

Awesome diy! Going to do this to my manifold thanks!

its really not that hard. It is just a tedious job that noone really wants to do. The manifold is quite the job. bout 13 hours for the first one that I did.

Which manifold was it?

Ka24

dang, looks like a chrome finish now. good work man, i wish i had something to polish now!

23 hours of polishing i did on this motor, the intake manifold, turbo manifold, front cover, thermostat housing and valve cover.

Attachment 10121

wow 23 hours worth dang man that alot of elbow grease... im just curious i've actually polished up my valve cover and i want it to stay shiny sooo would i be ahead to clear coat it once im done so that way the aluminum doesnt corrode to where i have to polish it up again??? or do u just use that polish and let it go with that?? thanx
Eric

you can clear coat if it you want. I would recommend it if your gonna be daily driving it.

i'm skeptical about the clear adhering properly to a polished surface, i've never done it myself though, i'm just not sure how well that will turn out.

I dont think you can polish the surface. I think you would sand it then put the clear on after. I will try it today and post some pictures.

Bought this a few months back. Finally decided to polish it.

before
Attachment 10095

after
Attachment 10096

damn you make me want to polish everything haha, are you hand sanding all this or using an air tool?

read the write up. lol. I am using an air tool to get the casting off then hand sanding it after that.

I read it i was just confused haha thanks

umm... how are you confused? I made it pretty simple. lol. what dont you understand?

Past Tense boss (was) confused, you already answered my question thanks haha

no prob man.

so is that intake just polished or is it clear coated?? looks just polished... and it looks great!! man u make it looks so easy but i've been there and its def some hard work... as i mentioned earlier i am polishing my valve cover but what i forgot to mention was that i grinded of all the lettering on it so it was easier to polish cause good luck polishing in between those haha kepp up the good work looks awesome !!!!
Eric

haha, I wouldnt even bother trying to polish between the letters. It is def not easy work. The wheel was pretty simple because it was a flat surface. When you start getting to manifolds and superchargers blah blah blah, it starts getting pretty hard.

These are a few things I have polished.

This is my friends motor. front cover, intake manifold, turbo manifold, thermo housing, valve cover.
Attachment 10082

polished this super charger
Attachment 10083
Attachment 10084

I was bored and had this laying around.
Attachment 10085

you get the idea. lots of hours spent on lots of projects.

man u got alot of time on your hands and i bet your arms are buff by now lol i bet the front cover on that ka was a pain with all the bends and curves on that thing anyways i give your props man def A+++ work!!! :thumb:

Front cover was pretty easy. you dont need to do the first step. just clean it really good and sand it and polish it. the hardest part was the intake manifold.

cool well u may have just boosted my confindence to polish my front cover now but my intake i may just spray a nice silver on it and put on a good clearcoat to let it shine!!!
Eric

yeah, the manifold is a huge project. Do the thermostat housing while your at it also.

great write up smoke. I started doin a few pieces myself(pics posted in album) and the shyt is amazing. i thought about doin the wheel before you did this thread-now i think ima deff do it haha.

Picture of the wheel on the car. Looks pretty good.

Attachment 9974

I want to see some steelies polished like this. Just for Sh!ts and giggles.

they would be rusted b4 you got the rim off the table to the car. Steelies are called so because they are made out of steel never remove their protective paint or they will rust out.

steel wheels are decent wheels though they are strong and light but they have draw backs like they dont transfer heat as well as an alloy wheel (wheels are an important part of brake cooling) and unlike alloy wheels steel wheels cannot flex and return to its original shape.

anyway i like your work smoke id polish my i/c pipes if i werent having new ones made lol

wait till spring man, my bay is going to be insane. I have some big plans for my motor.

cant wait to see that shyt smoke. Ima tryna do the same thing to mine(brake lines, valve cover, radiator top......i could go on and on.) its like u said tho-its addicting. I polished my lawn mower muffler for the fuhk of it hahaha. I cant stop-i need help. Already went through 2 small jars of the mothers juice hahaha but for real-keep me posted on your progress. Im lookin forward to that shyt bro. Deuces

noooooooooooooooooo

when will people learn you dont polish steel esp brake lines do you want do die in an accident due to rusted out brake lines?

haha, my lines are going to either be switched to braided or just get painted black.

I was talking about my motor in general. Pretty sure I am going to polish the head.... I am not sure about the whole heat dissipation though. Gotta read up on that before I do something stupid. HAHA. Also possibly the master cylinders.

How did you go through 2 things of mothers polish? lol. I havent even gone through one yet and I have polished a **** ton of stuff. Maybe your using too much.

hahaha well i been pokishing anything and evrything for ppl. bike frames and other lil **** on other ppls cars. i used just the polish on my wheels and them bytches look brand new. hahaha and what the fuhk is this dude talkin bout?? i really like how i wanna die over doin somthin. hahahahahaha- coulda jus offerd the hand of advice and say somthin about that not bein a good idea. or suggesting doin somethin diff in regards to that. in all honesty it was a fuhkin typo. i was really talking about about the master cylinder. if you look in my photos-my brake lines are painted the same color as my car on a primer engine bay-hellz yea!! Charcoal metallic, clearcoated 6x over.....whass really good?? anywho.....it tis what it tis. No offense tho Batto.....but im new to this nissan game and im learning as i go. Jus lend me some helpful advice time to time bro bro-id apprciaite it. Later yall, Deuces

lol np just saw somthing about polishing something steel when i just said somthing about that a post ago and was like wtf lol

yea and you could die if you bust a brake like and you on the highway and run into traffic just sayin >.>

White rouge works wanders also