coldel Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 Those two bits stick out a mile when you open that bonnet...so what have you done with them? I am wanting to do something to jazz them up a bit, is it easy to polish a plenum yourself? What would you use? Anyone done any good spray efforts on the engine cover? I saw a rising sun image on one once! Ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coppz Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 Yello, I recently polished the plenum, It had been cleaned up so then I went to work. I'd suggest the polishing kit from halfords and metal polish to finish up for a nice shine - coupled with an electric corded drill, otherwise you will probably die trying! I hand sanded down all halfords wet and dry to get to the polishing stage! 4 days, couple of hours a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted September 26, 2011 Author Share Posted September 26, 2011 4 days! Did you have the plenum off when doing this? Good excuse to invest in a drill plus accessories and update my 'manly stuff' collection Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasso Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 Grant had his plenum powder coated which I thought was a very effective and simple result Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted September 26, 2011 Author Share Posted September 26, 2011 Very nice...good to get ideas, think i will just go full on silver and black - although the engine bay cover needs something on it...needs some more thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glrnet Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 Here you go Col, you can see my progress on here:- viewtopic.php?f=26&t=48842&start=0 Powder coated the plenum after reading horror stories about how long it would take to polish the Plenum but I think Tarmac does an exchange polished Plenum. Sprayed my engine cover and throttle body too amongst loads of other bits too. Ricey made a pretty good job of his too Hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted September 26, 2011 Author Share Posted September 26, 2011 Super cheers Graham, am certainly of the mindset that I want to do as much as possible myself...as much as I want to change things on the car I actually want to learn how to do it as well. Am a trainee Ricey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glrnet Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 You'll get the hang of it, I was a virtually a novice with a spray can a year ago but read up on some techniques and practised on some stuff that didn't matter and gradually got the hang of it, typically, after I'd finished most of it Husky posted a really good guide for spraying plastics, I think it's in the guide section somewhere Good luck with it and don't forget to post pix of your progress. Super cheers Graham, am certainly of the mindset that I want to do as much as possible myself...as much as I want to change things on the car I actually want to learn how to do it as well. Am a trainee Ricey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voodoo Vix Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 Had throttle body and plenum polished with carbon cover we were going to do it ourselves but I'm impatient and wanted it done ASAP, the guy who did it said he'd never do another one lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 Powdercoated matte black Painted gloss black Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianphampton Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 I bought a spare plenum from a breaker (Paid £45 for it) though that was the cheapest I found, other prices were £60 and £70 Spent pretty much a full day polishing it with coarse flap wheel, then finer flap wheel, then sander and then small fine flap wheels - got it looking . . .well . . OK, but in the end took it to a local plating and polishiing company and paid them £35 for the machine polish. See Tarmac's thread about the machine polish not getting into the recessed bolt holes, but faced with another 8+ hours just to get them done right, decided to live with it. I discussed the chrome polish option with the plater and he said it was really difficult to get chrome to plate around recesses and holes, and he'd offer no guarantees on what it came out like. I also discussed anodising it with Colour Anodising in Radcliff (Manchester) and they said they'd offer no guarantees as the variability of alloys in cast aluminium means it could come put patchy. . . This is why I ended up living with the machine polish finish - and (in my opinion) it's still 500% better than the dull original. Carbon Fibre engine cover - I bought mine from the USA as over here they all seem to be over £100 - from the USA mine was about £75 including the shipping over the pond. I like the pictures of the powder coated ones, though, that seems a really good idea - especially if you colour match it. I saw a thread on here a while ago (Can't find it now) about someone who painted theirs purple. . . .sounds odd but their pictures also looked pretty good - so maybe painted plenum is a good way to go, especially if it saves all the labour of polishing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasso Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 Just out of curiosity where did you get your plenum bolts from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 A polished plenum and a bit of work with spray paints gave me this result. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted September 27, 2011 Author Share Posted September 27, 2011 Im actually thinking of just working on smoothing down the plenum and spraying it...seems a more doable job than a full on polish! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianphampton Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Where did I get my plenum bolts - I made mine - but then I do have my own CNC engineering business. ! [attachment=0]M8 Csk Bolts & Washers.jpg[/attachment] and now . . . . I make them, and Tarmac sells them, so - PM Tarmac if you want a set! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogyRev Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 A polished plenum and a bit of work with spray paints gave me this result. Nice work there Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted September 27, 2011 Author Share Posted September 27, 2011 Like the silver braiding cover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karlp Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Looking sexy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasso Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 Where did I get my plenum bolts - I made mine - but then I do have my own CNC engineering business. ! [attachment=2]Plenum Bolts & Caps.jpg[/attachment] Now comes the sales plug - because I also made all the other engine bay washers (because nobody else seemed to have Sunset Orange ones) [attachment=1]Set of 30.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]M8 Csk Bolts & Washers.jpg[/attachment] and now . . . . I make them, and Tarmac sells them, so - PM Tarmac if you want a set! Oooops a bit late in catching up with this thread, clearly I need to have a chat with Tarmac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bboyzeez Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 hi guys really fancy doing this to my car... i thinking of going with the polished plenum chrome and then gun metal grey painted covers and sides..... jim's post shows the water caps etc with the "z" on are they just basic replacement cover caps? are they universal to cars or specific to 350z's? i am hoping this can all be done myself ? i mean rub down the plenum as much as i can then polish and chrome paint it? , the plastic caps just a matter of painting white first then the gun metal grey or do gun metal grey straight over the originals? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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