[ICP Sux0rZ!]

Ok i was wondering what i could use to clean the plenum cover, its all discolored and grimmy, i got most of the gunk off with orange clean wipes, but its still dis-colored (kinda yellowish), i want to try and make it shine more, i'll eventually get it sandblasted and repainted, to match the exterior color, but for now i want it to look nicer, anyone have any suggestions or experience?

before first try at cleaning it

after first try

the only problems are the ends and on the number, and back on the nissan

 

[ICP Sux0rZ!]

i'm not going to inverse paint mine, jsut change the paint color, but that won't be for a few months, for now i just wanna make the metal shine, wat could i use to get the stains off and make the metal shine, and is the cover made of aluminum?

 

[ICP Sux0rZ!]

I think it's aluminum, yes. You could lightly sand it with some 300 grit, that should pull the garbage off it, and even polish it up a bit.

is there any protective finish on it?? cuz theres some area by the nissan that i can see the bare metal, and other parts look like they have a coating of somekind, i don't want to expose the bare metal, unless i can polish that up easier then under uts current condition.

Should i move up from 300 after awhile, like slowly get towards 600 grit, and should do a wetsand?

 

[ICP Sux0rZ!]

I just used 300 on mine. If it is true aluminum, it won't rust, so you should have no problems. I'll post pics of mine later on. it cleaned up quite nicely with 300 grit.

ok thanks [email protected], should i wet sand? or does it not matter?, i was really bored lest night and just took the thing of and rinsed if off and rub it down with orange clean and a scrub sponge :thumbup:

 

[ICP Sux0rZ!]

I dry sanded mine. 300s fine enough to get the garbage off but not to leave streaks, 600 should almost give it a mirror finish. Try it out. :thumbup:

ok cool, (stupid question alert) home depot sells 300 and 600 right?, maybe i should go to the junk yard and the one off my cars lil brother (87 same color, same trim)

 

[ICP Sux0rZ!]

Yeah Home Depot should have what you need. As far as the cover goes, I like mine 'cause it says:

:thumbup: lucky, since the car meet on sunday i've been having boost cravings , ok so there will be no ill side affects to sanding it? my dad wants me to get the one off the junker before touching the one we have now. do i need to?

you only used 300 and got that shine??? damn can't wait to see mine with 600 i'll show u pics when i'm done, eventually i'm having the red sandblasted then painted to match the exterior

edit: did u handsand or did u use a sanding device, like a palm sander or circular sander?

 

[ICP Sux0rZ!]

http://thumper300zx.com/sharpenup/wheels/wheels.htm

ok thanks for that link i won't be working on the rims until i can get an extra one from my cars lil brother, to find out what works best.

do you think that 600 might be overkill? after reading thumpers guide to doing the rims, i have an urge to take the plenum cover up to 1000 grit or higher, for a show quality shine? am i just being a newb? or do you think i should just because i can?, i wanna make this car as beautiful as i can, maybe eventually stop driving it and make it a show car under the restoration category. but for now i want to get that engine looking purty

edit: i think i'll use his technique on the cover and see how shiny i can get that thing, making the home depot and napa runs after work

 

[ICP Sux0rZ!]

Hey do whatcha want man, it's your car. :thumbup: I'd like to see it after it's done.

ok yeah i jsut realized my gf has my debit card :dumbass: , darn it, i'll get it back today, hopefully i still have money.

[email protected] did use ur hand or did you put the sand paper onto something? (and whats your name i don't wanna keep calling you [email protected])

i'm gonna dry sand to 1000grit, see how that looks and if its good put some aluminum polish on it, otherwise i'm wet sanding starting at 300grit going to 1000grit, then polishing

 

[ICP Sux0rZ!]

I hand sanded, but then again I'm a back to basics kinda guy. I rarely even use power tools....... My middle name is Eric, that's what I let everyone call me.

lol ok thanks eric. i'll get pics up when i'm done, prolly later tonight after i drive the 20 miles to my gf's jsut to get my debit card then drive the 20 miles back in traffic (oh joy)

 

[ICP Sux0rZ!]

haha do i even wanna know the story behind that?

 

[ICP Sux0rZ!]

At's ok, you can call me "Willy" if you call him "Timmy"......

haha i saw you post that in the wrong thread lol!!!

 

[ICP Sux0rZ!]

Just first names we don't like. I changed my name long ago.

ok i'm lost but whatever, so we got eric and i still don't know asleep's name

 

[ICP Sux0rZ!]

ok so what colors do high temp paints come in?

 

[ICP Sux0rZ!]

Jake. Last time I checked anyway.

And high temp paint isn't really necessary. It should really never get past 350 degrees in the engine compartment, unless something is very wrong. That being said, Hi-Temp paint comes in a lot of colors, I don't think you'll have too many problems making choices.

ok cool thanks, i'd prefer to use high-temp jsut to be on the safe side, and did u use a spray paint or brush application?

 

[ICP Sux0rZ!]

nah i want to do what you did, jsut a lighter blue, and higher grit

edit: did u paint the entire thing sides to? or jsut the top?

 

[ICP Sux0rZ!]

To answer the questions from earlier, 600 grit will still not be smooth. Your cover will look like brushed aluminum. To really get it polished, you have to get really fine and end up using a metal polish at the end.

i'm gonna dry sand to 1000grit, see how that looks and if its good put some aluminum polish on it, otherwise i'm wet sanding starting at 300grit going to 1000grit, then polishing

already knew i would need higher grit, but thank you for the advice

 

[ICP Sux0rZ!]

ok so i put down a layer of high-temp paint, light blue, turned out really really dark, so i found some factory spec matching paint, code 426, mm same color as my car, so far it looks sick, i'll have pics up in a few hours when i'm done, the cover is baking right now

 

[ICP Sux0rZ!]

I"M DONE!!!!

ok so after working on this for 3 days, yes i spent 3 days on this, i resanded it atleast 6 times and applyied god knows how many coats of paint here it is!!!!

the starting project

the unoffical primer

the finished product (2000 grit)

installed

 

[ICP Sux0rZ!]

actaully even though i had dads approval, he has no clue i did it yet, hes on a business trip right now (house to myself! i love his durango!!, party this friday!! lol) and i don't think you can tell but the ENTIRE cover has been painted, top, bottom, and all sides

the second picture was taken right after baking the cover (i baked it after every coat of paint, normal home oven, temp set to 250 for 5 mintues), thats the color i was planning on painting it...but it turned out to dark and i didn't like it, but it was a high-temp paint, so i used it as a primer instead, i was looking around my garage and i found a little can of touch-up paint, its an exact match to the body paint.

i hope it looks really really nice considering i spent 3 days sanding it, i started with heavy grit emery cloth, made for sanding metal, then went to medium, then to fine, probably bout 20 times to get all the factory mill lines off, then i got the wet-paper started at 600 -> 1000 -> 1200 -> 1500 -> 2000, all wet, i actaully let the paper soak for 15 mintues prior to sanding it, then i kept the cover wet also, i did that proabably 4 times, and sadly theres still some imperfections on the back that i will work on later but for now it looks good, i'm picking up some metal polish today, and will get pics of that up soon

 

[ICP Sux0rZ!]

Yeah it is, isnt it? Im totally going to copy that- It looks really really good! Im wondering why he baked the paint though- he didnt say he used powder coat...just regular paint----I suppose so he could get the project completed quicker.

YUP!! when ur painting something at 12am and its 40 degrees outside it doesn't want to dry, so i used a hair dryer inbetween coats, then i baked it to dry it up nice and get it totally dry before i sanded it. i'm a perfectionist, and i plan on doing this type of stuff for a living so i figure i'd see what i could do, i wanted as professional looking results as possble, i even made a faux paint both (cardboard box with a hole in the top, sprayed inside the box, closed the lid let the particles settle a big then inserted the dryer in the hole and moved it around slowly making sure to get all the fumes out before turning up the heat, got the paint sticky and then applyed a second coat, i had absolutly no dripping with the method, paint come out perfect

the cover being baked -

the paint booth -