Gen 5/V blower, polishing tips??

**gtpeddie** · 05-05-2012

whats up guys just bought a Gen 5 blower with 20,000 miles on it looking to polish it anyone have any advice? i know some people on here have theirs polished

this is what it looks like now:

**gtpeddie** · 05-06-2012

........

**lrscgod** · 05-06-2012

Eddie, I did mine. Ended up painting it anyway after spending over 40 hours plus on it, too many nooks and crannys I couldn't get to with a dremmell, and when it came to that I wanted it perfect. I didn't feel like spending anymore time or money getting what I needed to finish it so I gave up. The best way to get it smooth though is a die grinder and 3m pads, there are three types Brown heavy grit, Red med grit, and blue which will semi polish then you have to use polishing kit on it. Then you'll need a dremmel or pencil grinder to get the areas the 1 2 and 3 inch 3m wheels cant. Again it's a lot of work!

**gtpeddie** · 05-06-2012

did you spend 40 hours hand polishing it? i was just gonna go out tomorrow and spend my day trying to polish it with the aluminum polish i have, where can i find a polishing kit at? and thanks for the help man

**dsmuts** · 05-06-2012

I cleaned up my gen 3 with a wire wheel on my drill. It turned out got for the 15-20 min i spent on it. Notice I didn't clean the part of the snout that the rotors connect to.

Its a really bad pic but if you clean it up with a wire wheel it'll help out a lot when your polishing it.

**coolone** · 05-06-2012

Search the board here... Reptile does the work for a very reasonable cost... That's the way I would go if you want it polished. Doing it yourself will take 3x as long and the finished product won't be 1/2 as good. Just my $.02

Or you can paint it, like I did...

or check the pics...

http://www.grandprixforums.net/my-ba...gtp-57086.html

**dpzelenak** · 05-06-2012

anybody ever try that rust-oleum metallic finish in silver?

**gtpeddie** · 05-06-2012

Originally Posted by coolone

Search the board here... Reptile does the work for a very reasonable cost... That's the way I would go if you want it polished. Doing it yourself will take 3x as long and the finished product won't be 1/2 as good. Just my $.02

Or you can paint it, like I did...

or check the pics...

http://www.grandprixforums.net/my-ba...gtp-57086.html

yea i seen reptiles thread but i don't have 350+ to spend on polishing my blower, yours looks nice what did you use high heat ceramic engine paint? what color is that it looks nice. and what did you do before you painted it, any sanding. what did you clean it with

**Swiggles** · 05-07-2012

polishing with the paste is the last step in polishing the blower. you first need to sand and sand and sand to get all the rough casting out and make it smooth. you will not do it in a day.

**GTP89** · 05-10-2012

Originally Posted by lrscgod

Eddie, I did mine. Ended up painting it anyway after spending over 40 hours plus on it, too many nooks and crannys I couldn't get to with a dremmell, and when it came to that I wanted it perfect. I didn't feel like spending anymore time or money getting what I needed to finish it so I gave up. The best way to get it smooth though is a die grinder and 3m pads, there are three types Brown heavy grit, Red med grit, and blue which will semi polish then you have to use polishing kit on it. Then you'll need a dremmel or pencil grinder to get the areas the 1 2 and 3 inch 3m wheels cant. Again it's a lot of work!

Agreed took me either 40hr or more to get it to shine like this and i still wasnt happy but i figuried it was ok for my first time, but like IRSCGOD stated its a lot of work and especially between all the edges that are hard to get too. So i just gave up at the end to get it too shine real good but over all i think it came out ok for a first attempt. a pic of the finished product.

**TLSheff** · 05-10-2012

Not too shabby for a first attemp, but you need to have the rotors recoated... they can't be sealing well at all like that.

**GTP89** · 05-10-2012

Originally Posted by TLSheff

Not too shabby for a first attemp, but you need to have the rotors recoated... they can't be sealing well at all like that.

Yeah that was actually a stupid move i did when i read some posts and people arguing as to wich is the actual coating of the rotors one said it was the brownish coating it had and the other said that it wasnt seemed like there was more ppl to his side saying it wasnt so i took it off and later found out i was stupid for listening to some ppl on a forum that didnt know what they were talking about, but hey **** happens, i didnt worry only because i had a spare gen 3 with good rotors and now have some gen v's so no worries. By the way that was like 2yrs ago when i was learning and barely starting to mod my gtp, so that is why i read read and read some more. Thats how i learned about the porting and what little things i could do to my lim for better temps and such as well as the s/c.

**lrscgod** · 05-10-2012

Originally Posted by gtpeddie

did you spend 40 hours hand polishing it? i was just gonna go out tomorrow and spend my day trying to polish it with the aluminum polish i have, where can i find a polishing kit at? and thanks for the help man

Sorry Eddie for late reply, my mom has been in the hospital. Anyway the 40 hrs was everything, taking down the rough coat then polishing, the polish kit you can get from Harbor Freight is a good one, but for real shine you want to use MOTHERS paste polish. It's a real PIA but can be done. I've actually considered going back and trying again. You have to have a high speed die grinder or the rough surface removal will take for freaking ever. you'll need flap sander to get those hard to clean bends and angles you can't get with the 1 2 or 3 inch 3M wheels. Just give it a shot and if it seems like too much work, clean it with acetone and paint her. trying never hurts.

**coolone** · 05-11-2012

Originally Posted by gtpeddie

yea i seen reptiles thread but i don't have 350+ to spend on polishing my blower, yours looks nice what did you use high heat ceramic engine paint? what color is that it looks nice. and what did you do before you painted it, any sanding. what did you clean it with

I just make suggestions, I did the porting and painting but for the time it took me, well if i had seen Reptiles post here first I might have been better off. Don't get me wrong, I love working on my car, but it was a bit of work. Lol.

Anyways, sorry for the delay responding to your post. After I finished porting the intake side of the S/C and then the V, I cleaned it real well first with simple green and the brake cleaner, using a small brush in all the crevices. I did that a few times until the entire outside surface was clean. That's it, no sending, etc. If you check my profile and look for my vehicle post, you'll see the work on the throttle body too. After it all dried, I used blue painters tape to seal off all the openings and such and then used the high heat ceramic engine paint. Light multiple coats are best, the paint is very thin and will run easily, don't be in a rush. Although the successive coats should be done as soon as paint is dry to touch, 15-20 mins. I think i did 4-5 coats overall. What's funny is forgetting where all the openings were and only finding one or two when putting it back on engine and trying to find where things attached to only to discover the tape then.. lol.

Any other questions you can just PM me...

**gtpeddie** · 05-12-2012

well guys thanks for the help! i decided i am going to polish it myself and i know its will take a while but im up for it! i know reptile does awesome work and it would come out better but im not looking for perfection, nor do i have $350 to spend on that (though its worth it i know its alot of work). i already have a few hours into it but i still have a long way to go! i plan on getting it up to like 1500 grit then im gonna polish it i got most of the rough casting off. im going to work now but as soon as i get home ill post a pic so you guys can tell me what yous think, and again thanks for the help!

**Swiggles** · 05-12-2012

Your going to end spending more than you think on sand paper but it's worth in the end. Good luck!

Invest in a dermal if you don't have one already. Best tool for doing custom work.

**JoRoW99** · 05-12-2012

Good luck! everyone loves shiny blowers.

**gtpeddie** · 05-13-2012

Originally Posted by Swiggles

Your going to end spending more than you think on sand paper but it's worth in the end. Good luck!

Invest in a dermal if you don't have one already. Best tool for doing custom work.

yea i have a dremal that's what im using and sand i can get sand paper from the shop, buts thanks!

Originally Posted by JoRoW99

Good luck! everyone loves shiny blowers.

thanks!

**coolone** · 05-13-2012

I love the polished blowers, but after doing the paint job and how well it looks (for my taste) I'm very happy with the end product. You do KNOW that once you put that Uber shiny Blower int he engine bay, you'll be cleaning it daily, hahahaha... just kidding...

Good luck really, it'll look awesome when done.