I just aquired a set of the old M/T cast aluminum valve covers. They are currently just the raw, ugly, natrual cast color- I want to polsish these myself.

I know they can be brought up to a near mirror shine if you use buffing wheels and the right compounds. I would like some tips on how to do it, types of buffing wheels to use, compounds, etc etc.

Thanks for any tips!
Ben

I chrome shop can buff/polish them for about $40-$60,you'd spend more time and money doing it yourself.

But if you must just go get a buffing wheel for a bench grinder.

I wish shops around here would do it for that price, i would jump at it... About 3 years ago, I had a set of the Finned aluminum Edelbrock ones in about the same condition as these M/Ts & had them polished- it was $200.

Also- It'd be kinda cool to have the know how to do it...

So again- Anyone with some knowledge of the wheel buff types and the buffing compounds, please chime in and share a little knowledge!

Thanks-
Ben

Ahsom, It takes a lot of work,but if your interested,here goes.First there are different types of buffing wheels and compounds.The spiral stitched (sewn)and pleated buffing wheels are generally used for roughing and semi finishing work.The single stitched buffing wheels,they have a single row of stitching around the hub holding them together, are used for fine finishing work.For the home shop a spiral stitched wheel lasts longer and is all you need.Compounds for aluminum are usually brown for rough scratch removal, red (tripoli) for semi finish and finish work, and white for fine finish.The red tripoli is all you need.
For valve covers,or any aluminum,Clean the surface first to remove all oil and grease,Use Castrol super clean or similiar.Wet sand any scratches or marks.Wear gloves because the surface heats up fast.Start in one area and apply compound to the wheel,continue buffing that area until the compound melts and starts to darken (it's gonna get hot).Move to another area and repeat.The buffing wheel will load up with compound and aluminum and turn black in color. You'll have to clean it off occasionally by running a file against the buffing wheel.
Make sure you wear safety glasses! :cool:
Wear gloves and by all means wear a mask!
After about ten minutes of buffing there will be compound, buffing wheel material, everywhere, so you don't want to be breathing this stuff.Jury rig a cardboard box behind the wheel and it will catch a lot of the material.
Hold the valve covers tightly when buffing and always buff towards an edge. NEVER let the edge of a part face up towards the buffing wheel or it will get caught by the buffing wheel and rip out of your hands or worse.
Continue to add compound as needed and when your satisfied with the finish,rinse the parts in a sink with dishwashing detergent and or windex(ammonia). The detergent will remove all the blackened compound.Use one of the better aluminium wheel polishes to keep them looking good once installed.
The MT's in the engine pic in my sig were originally black wrinkle painted.Glass beading and polishing took alot of work but was worth it.
I believe Sears still carries a set of four compounds,black, brown, red, and white,for under $10.enough to last for years.
Hope this helps. :D
Ken

Thanks Ken- Exactly what I was looking for!

A million years ago in high school I took some crafts classes and we used a bench buffer to polish various metal stuff we made... I think once I can get my hands on this stuff a lot of it will come back to me.

Thanks!
Ben

I have a set of MT valve covers too. They look good polished but are hard to keep looking good. I painted mine then sanded the tops of the fins and the center section back to bare aluminum,then polished them like explained above to a mirror finish. I was going to clear them to keep them looking good,but decided not too.have a look -
http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/users/25ebf0f1/bc/Camaro+68/Back+in+and+painted.jpg?bc5ECZ.AffJ1dXza M/T valve covers (http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/ochrisl/vwp?.dir=/Camaro+68&.dnm=Back+in+and+painted.jpg&.src=bc&.view=l&.done=http%3a//briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/ochrisl/lst%3f%26.dir=/Camaro%2b68%26.src=bc%26.view=l)