polishing fins on "Cobra lemans" valve covers

[maxum_101]

just got a set of black cobra lemans valve covers and would like to polish just the fins and cobra lemans name. anyone here ever take this on ? what tips or tricks you might have, tools used to get the job done?

any help or info on this would be great.

[Fastz06]

I sanded them with 1200 paper and used a die grinder with a 2 inch buffing wheel to polish them.

[carmine]

Hello Maxum.
What Fast says is good way to do.
All i would suggest is start with 400 paper then 800 paper then 1200.
Use a wood block behind the paper to help hold the paper flat against the fins giving you a nice flat fin top not a domed fin top which is what you would get if you use your hand behind the sandpaper.
Most importantly always sand in X patern (change direction after sanding marks all going in same directions).
Use varsol while sanding, helps keep sandpaper from cloging up with aluminum and longer life of sandpaper.

Best Regards Carmine.

[carmine]

Forgot to mention

after 1200 paper finish you can use Mothers biliut polish or equivalent with buffing pads.

[mpanten]

Im not sure how bad they look but I would try some Flitz on them before you go the sanding route. The stuff is really amazing.

[Jimboz]

My stock Cobra Lemans covers have a machined look on the top of the fin surface. Sounds like you want to make that a polished surface so I think Carmine had the best advice. Just be careful. Once you remove material you can't put it back.

[PANAVIA]

All good advice ! -- I am tempted on doing this with my BigBlue 428.

[gene giambona]

I pretty much followed the same steps as Carmine for one of my projects, but started with 200 grit to get the bead blasted surface smooth. I used Mother's polish at the end. I was pleased with the results, but it took a lot of elbow grease!

Good luck!

[mdross1]

Flap wheels on an high speed air grinder works wonders.Can be done in minutes not hours.Level of finish is always debateable.

[Snakebit]

Wet sand using a couple drops of dish soap to a quart of water. Soak the sand paper in the water for about 10 minutes. A lot of elbow grease, but the result will be worth the effort.

[Gregory B]

Orbit sander with 320 Grit paper until smooth or clean. As sand paper wears down, don't throw away. Continue to use old paper until completely worn out. This works as a higher grit paper and cheaper. Cycle paper as needed to use up and get the smoothest surface.
I have a battery operated Ridged Brand multi tool. I take the sanding adaptor, triangle shape, and wrap a small terry towel around it. secure it with a rubber band and use Mothers to polish.
I cleaned the inside of the fins and spray painted and allowed to dry completely before any of the above steps. After the polishing, simple green to clean polish out of fins and a quick repolish.
Power tools are the way to go.

[YerDugliness]

Originally Posted by Gregory B

Power tools are the way to go.

The ultimate "power tool" for polishing....a lapidary polisher:

Google Images

The photo above is sort of misleading, the belts stick out well beyond the "cowl" of the polisher and access for flat items is pretty decent.

"Polishing belts" are available from 60 grit (Those take a LOT of material off VERY quickly) to around 1200 grit (useful for polishing).

The wide belt is stable and you can hold the valve covers securelywith both hands...only light pressure is needed. Most rock polishers use a wet-belt system to keep the polishing belts from getting clogged with "dust", debris, whatever you want to call it.

You can do a set of valve covers in about 10 minutes....15 seconds each with a 100 grit, 30 seconds with a 220 grit, 45 seconds with a 600 grit, then it's just a matter of polishing to your heart's content with 800 and 1200 grits.

If you want a mirror polish, get a polishing pad for a shop grinder and use either jeweler's rouge (good) or cerium oxide (best--will leave a glass-like finish)! I use that system on custom glass "bottleneck slides" that guitar players use, can make about 20 of them an hour after the necks are cut off the wine bottles.

Cheers from Dugly

[lovehamr]

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lapidary polisher - Google Search