Engine case polishing...

Was planning to send my cases out for a proper polishing but as I have a DA polisher, thought I'd do it myself.

Anyone else done it? Tips/tricks? Any suggestions for compounds/pads?

Thanks in advance

K

kev said:

Was planning to send my cases out for a proper polishing but as I have a DA polisher, thought I'd do it myself.

Anyone else done it? Tips/tricks? Any suggestions for compounds/pads?

Thanks in advance

K

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Have you tried White Diamond polish? Unless you want them almost chrome finish, that does a very good job.

You start with the grit size that matches the deepest scratch, if it's just dull with no scratches then you start with a coarse polishing compound and progressively change to finer pastes until it shines to the standard acceptable to you.

You can get a nice shine on with the cases in place using polish and elbow grease - I also used a small drill mounted polishing head to get into the nooks, making sure not to stray onto the engine block.

For me, Autosol Ally followed by Blue Diamond (also my choice for the ally tank).



Won't be able to get the whole job done with a DA polisher though without removing them I wouldn’t think. If I was in the UK and had them off I’d send them to Harry Overton.

Keep the photo’s coming if you have a go though Kev - be great to see how you get on.

Thanks for the replies chaps. Appreciate it. Will definitely be having a go in the coming months so will take a look at the suggestions above.

This is the starting point...

Buy some flap wheels , you can get these for your die grinder or bigger 50mm wide 150mm or so in lots of grit like 80 120 180 220 300 ., then buy polishing mops there are hard medium and soft mops there are different compounds you can buy ( from proper polishing supplies) extra small areas can be cleaned up with die grinder bit as used in porting with sanding rolls . And as mentioned only start as coarse as required then work though your grits finer and finer ,another extremely helpful product is the felt disc for an angle grinder they work great with compound and then new one with finishing compound . Polishing is messy . I recommend PPE . Cheers

Mother's mag and aluminum polish, a drill with a mop does wonders on stuff like yours that isn't gouged etc. Maybe not available where you are, but a $5 tub of it here in the US goes a long way. Can also use Dremel felt bits and saturate it with Mother's, get into areas like the screw recesses.

gpzkat said:

Mother's mag and aluminum polish, a drill with a mop does wonders on stuff like yours that isn't gouged etc. Maybe not available where you are, but a $5 tub of it here in the US goes a long way. Can also use Dremel felt bits and saturate it with Mother's, get into areas like the screw recesses.

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Yeh that's what I use on the tank TBH. Got a big tub here.

Reckon that and a polisher will get there?

Getting there...

free picture upload

Looking good Kev. No way to get rid of the porosity (seen best above the ‘t’) I don’t think. Throughout the casting - certainly is on mine. Can’t really see it from normal viewing distance so no big deal.

Would like to see one of Harry Overtons finished products up close, to see how clear he gets the surface.

Richard-7 was a prominent member of the forum some years ago now; very knowledgeable guy. He posted an e-book, raved about the content and what he learnt about polishing whilst he worked on his casings. May be useful to you, depending on how keen you are. Not exactly a page turner!

The thread also covers how he (accidentally) came across the vintage look for the casings ‘Norton’ logo.

Thread 'Metal Polishing Book'
https://www.accessnorton.com/NortonCommando/metal-polishing-book.20218/