Anyone polish an LA timing chain cover before?

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pishta

pishta

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I used to have a cool chrome plated one, then I found another one but it was peeling badly. Why can't I seem to be able to polish this cast AL one I have? Its completely stripped of paint, smooth as glass but it just wont take a shine. Ive use 1000 grit sandpaper, a buffing wheel, rouge/black/white compound. Im ready to take it to a polisher. Any tips? Crappy metal? I remember M/T covers were hard to polish too, inferior metal. Leanne, can you powder coat this to look chrome like?
 
pishta said:
I used to have a cool chrome plated one, then I found another one but it was peeling badly. Why can't I seem to be able to polish this cast AL one I have? Its completely stripped of paint, smooth as glass but it just wont take a shine. Ive use 1000 grit sandpaper, a buffing wheel, rouge/black/white compound. Im ready to take it to a polisher. Any tips? Crappy metal? I remember M/T covers were hard to polish too, inferior metal. Leanne, can you powder coat this to look chrome like?
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Perhaps it is anodized?
 
I messed with mine because I was thinking the same thing. The more I looked at it and tried to do a small spot the more it looked liked pot metal. lol IDK I think it's just a low grade cast aluminum. It certainly doesn't polish like M/C parts and other aluminum I've messed with and mine was a really porous looking casting.
 
It has a ton of zinc alloyed into it to reduce cost. It will never look better than your average chain link fence.
 
pishta said:
...Any tips? Crappy metal? I remember M/T covers were hard to polish too, inferior metal. Leanne, can you powder coat this to look chrome like?
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The chrome and black-chrome "powdercoating" you see is a (PVD) physical-vapor-depositioned coating, often with clear powder over it for extra protection. She does not do that type of coating. There are some bright silver powdercoating colors that would probably look OK on that, but they are not really "chrome-like". PVD Coating
 
Powder coat it, might not get the same shine but extreme chrome does look good
 
all I want is for it to look like this.....too much to ask? :eek:

CHROME-LIKE-POLISHING-TIMING-COVER-14.jpg
 
No not too much to ask at all. There is an aerosol coating out that looks incredible.
 
so they got it down to 2 coats, will look into it. thanks.
 
I'll tell you what I know about Alsa. It is pretty expensive. A lot of people say the spray cans do not give a great finish. Nobody knows how durable it is, but it has to be clearcoated, or it'll rub off. And most clear paint will yellow considerably when exposed to high temperatures. There is really no info out there about it's durability. As one actual user said, "I would say Killer Chrome in the aerosol can is a very expensive product which provides very mediocre results."
Here is info from some Alsa users:
Alsa "Killer Chrome" product review - Hot Rod Forum : Hotrodders Bulletin Board
Refinishing With Alsa Corp Chrome Spray
I'd spend my money on the powdercoating that looks almost like polished aluminum. Leanna calls it "Super Chrome". She does super work. http://www.phoenixspecialtycoatings.com/index.html
 
yeah, I'm out. ALSA looks like a bust unless they send me a trial size of their brush on stuff and Ill do an honest review.
 
pishta said:
I used to have a cool chrome plated one, then I found another one but it was peeling badly. Why can't I seem to be able to polish this cast AL one I have? Its completely stripped of paint, smooth as glass but it just wont take a shine. Ive use 1000 grit sandpaper, a buffing wheel, rouge/black/white compound. Im ready to take it to a polisher. Any tips? Crappy metal? I remember M/T covers were hard to polish too, inferior metal. Leanne, can you powder coat this to look chrome like?
Click to expand...
Who makes the chrome ones?
 
Tried again with some black compound and got some better results. Not perfect, not even close but it now has at least a reflection off it. Those pro polish guys must have a million different buff sizes! All I had was a 8". I got a little crazy with the red pad and made a few marks but I'm good....
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there were all kinds of razor sharp casting lines that I had to grind off, but the red followed by black scotchbrite wheels did quick work to even everything out, then some 1000 grit, some black compound followed by your favorite metal polish. go easy on the red wheels as they are pretty aggresive on soft AL. Its a difficult job with all the nooks and crannies so I just polished the high visibility spots that were accessible with an 8" buff on a buffer.
 
the right clay bar for the application makes all the difference, along with proper preparation! bout 3000 rpm for most stuff. a good wet sanding starting bout 300 up to 1000 then clean and start with cutting wheel and bar! a dusting of baby powder as you cut will help with polish build up! this step was faded plum white from setting out 15 years
battery box.jpg
 
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I did an alum intake over the winter after porting on it for weeks, it turned out pretty good. I sanded it fairly smooth (can still see a few sanding marks), and used mothers alum. polish on it. Didn`t take too long after the sanding process , only about 4 rub outs to shine.
 
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