Taking aluminum to autopian standard? - Page 3

Setec Astronomy · 05-20-08, 08:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason M

Stainless is usually magnetic and Aluminum isn't. The only exception is stainless that has been cold worked or has a high nickel content.

"Ordinary" stainless exhausts are usually 409 or similar 400-series, known as ferritic stainlesses, which are magnetic. Some aftermarket, and perhaps Ferrari exhausts are 300-series (austenitic) which is generally not magnetic, but magnetism can be induced in these alloys to a limited degree through cold working.

TH0001 · 05-20-08, 08:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frito Bandito

Just starting to get into metal polishing myself since I just got some billet wheels on my truck. My only suggestion would be to finish with a finer metal polish like Mothers Billet. Forrest of Mothers said in the past that Billet is their finest metal polish. I also have Deep Alume but have yet to try it.

FYI - Advance Auto in my area seems to be closing Mothers Billet out. They have it marked down to $8 instead of the usual $16 on the clearance table.

Thanks for the tip. Are the mother's polishes abrasive?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason M

One other thing. That exhaust looks like stainless to me. Get a magnet and that will tell you real quick. Stainless is usually magnetic and Aluminum isn't. The only exception is stainless that has been cold worked or has a high nickel content. Stainless turbo turbine housings come to mind. I doubt the outer case of a muffler has very much nickel. Hard polishing can reduce the magnetic properties also IIRC. Either way I highly doubt it's aluminum given the amount of heat it has to deal with. Probably very thin wall stainless that gives it that aluminum lightness.

Thanks again Jason. I tested the magenetic theory and it didn't stick. The tips are defientely a different material as opposed to the rest of the system.

ehuth1 · 05-20-08, 08:28

Although this might not be "autopian standard" I would like to share my small process on some forged weld wheels I did on H2.

Befores

1st step was to completely start from ground zero. I have always cleaned tailpipes and any uncoated aluminum other than wheels with my AIM Chrome & Aluminum Brightner. This basically cleaned the crap out the wheels eliminating surface contamination and create a ready to polish surface. Once the low ph acid was sprayed, I let dwell for 30 seconds to a minute then hand scrubbed and blasted off with the pressure washer. The acid starts to react so fast that it foams!

After Acid

Next I use a Mothers powerball and some cutting polish I purchased from a guy off ebay Welcome to Bad Dog Polish - industrial strength aluminum polish He sent me the instructions on how to make my own, but I'm still looking for it on my HD... It's pretty obvious is a green medium cut polish made from melting a block of compound into mineral spiritz... anyways this was the first pass. Wipe on with terry app, then high speed buff with powerball. The next pass was with Mother aluminum polish to cover any fine scratches (same process as before) Next I took Duragloss aluminum polish in the tin and tore off tiny pieces to work the outside edges near the simulated beadlock. After about 30 minutes this is what I ended up with. The lsp I used to seal the look was DG501

Flash Shots

Jason M · 05-20-08, 08:36

I dry sand at 1500 until I KNOW I have out all the deeper scratches. Something that helps me see is to go all in one direction. As soon as all the scratches are going in that direction I switch to then next grit and go the other way until all the scratches run that way and so on. When I am at 2000grit I start dry and then move to wet once I have all the 1500 marks out. Go full wet from there. As far as abrasives from there I like to use some jewlers rouge (generally the finest you can find amongst polishing blocks) like this:
Jestco Products Buffing Supply - Red Buffing Compound-Jewelers rouge (Powered by CubeCart)
Those go on best with a cotton polishg wheel in a dremel or die grinder or some other high RPM device. A bench grinder will work but a hand held drill generally doesn't have high enough RPM's to get the job done. Finish with your finest metal polish or some cleaner wax by hand and I'm guessing that's the best you will get. It all comes down to time sanding in my experience though.

Their glass polishing kit really caught my eye. I think it's going in my shopping cart soon!

One last thing about the material. I think it's 304 stainless, which isn't magnetic. ALuminum isn't generally used for exhaust as it goes liquid around 1500F IIRC. It gets soft way before that though. They might get away with it around the case but you wouldn't really see any weight advantage as it would need to be thicker material. As far as the tips go, you usually don't weld aluminum and steel. I think a friction weld is the only way you can and I don't see ferrari doing that. Aluminum is just too finicky to be good exhaust stock.

TH0001 · 05-20-08, 09:39

I tried the wet sanding. I didn't read your post in time, but started with 1000 wet in the opposite direction of the most common sanding marks. I probably sanded for 10 minutes straight but still had some deeper scratches running in the opposite direction. After getting 99 percent of the scratches out, I moved to 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000 all wet.

Then I used Power Gloss and wool pad, followed by SIP orange and 106ff blue. The finish is easily the best yet, but I think I will have to buy dedicated metal polishes as I found removing the sanding marks very tedious. I made 5 or so passes with wool and power gloss to remove some of them.

Before, taped up...

Afters

Grouse · 05-20-08, 10:20

todd,

give me a call tomorrow. There are polishes for this kind of stuff but it is not in the ordinary places a detailer would look.

TH0001 · 05-20-08, 10:32

Okay will do. Thank you

NCZ13 · 05-20-08, 10:46

wow... that looks excellent

maesal · 05-21-08, 12:47

What about Britemax metal polish?

salty · 05-21-08, 02:13

Todd I'm sure that shine would pass 99.9% of the time. But i know you are a perfectionist.

I have being doing a little metal polishing lately and it is a different animal. Instead of soft or hard clear there is metal alloy composition to take into account.

I think one must start looking into dedicated products.

Also in this link it mentions heat buildup (at the bottom) as the last step to removing the haze.

Frequently Asked Questions - Southwest Metal Finishing Supply

Keep us informed.

TH0001 · 05-21-08, 03:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by salty

Todd I'm sure that shine would pass 99.9% of the time. But i know you are a perfectionist.

I have being doing a little metal polishing lately and it is a different animal. Instead of soft or hard clear there is metal alloy composition to take into account.

I think one must start looking into dedicated products.

Also in this link it mentions heat buildup (at the bottom) as the last step to removing the haze.

Frequently Asked Questions - Southwest Metal Finishing Supply

Keep us informed.

Great link, you rock Salty!

Way2SSlow · 05-21-08, 04:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by D&D Auto Detail

Adams also makes some metal polishes.

I have the Adam's Metal Polish #1 and #2. I like it a lot. I've yet to use it on my aluminum wheels with a machine; however, it seems to cut pretty fast. I tried it out by hand and was pretty amazed at the results for the amount of time I had in it. I've used it on a stainless steel Smith and Wesson as well with great results.