[andy280]

Hi, Just need some advise on polishing my rocker cover and what to ( if any ) put on it after its done to keep it shiney.
THANKS ANDY

 

[joeytekno]

if you have an air conpressor and die grinder.. depending on how bad it is..use that with the little red pad then sand with 400 600 800 1200 then steel wool.. rough then fine then extra fine.. then polish with a buffing pad on a drill and a rouge stick.. they sell a kit in home depot for like 10 bucks..then mothers aluminum polish.. mine took at least 10 hours.. but its nice .. and its custom painted..no pics sorry.. any more ?'s email me

 

[kelstar]

I can't tell you how to get it as shiny as some of these folks do, but mine came out pretty **** good for doing it myself. First I degreased it, then used some comet and some real fine steel wool. This worked for me... It's not chrome looking or anything but it does look like highly polished aluminum. I didn't put anything on it after that, a clean rag keeps it shined up nice.
Hope this helps, Shayne

 

[VA240Z]

I used 400 and 800 wet sandpaper to clean up the imperfections on the valve cover. Use the 400 on areas that need extra attention to get it looking good. 800 or even better 1000 will help remove the scratches and give it a nice look. Go lightly around the lettering on the valve cover so you don't sand it down Buffing wheels are the way to go after using the wet sandpaper. Eastwood Company carries all kinds of supplies for buffing. www.eastwoodco.com I also used mother's aluminum polish afterwards. You can get your cover approaching a mirror shine with some work. You can use a normal drill for buffing the cover. If you get into buffing alot of aluminum look towards one of the bufffing machines that can accomadate bigger buffing wheels.

As you can see, there are a few ways to get this done. Goal is to start with the rough sandpaper or steel wool to take care of the bads areas and then work your way up removing scratches and then polishing.

Later,

Mike