cs2000 Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 (edited) I much prefer this, just a nice simple silver. Graham, is that a rattle can or professional jobbie? Might get a 2nd hand plenum and give this a go... Edited August 23, 2013 by cs2000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
14N Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 You could always get it powder coated like mine. Ditto I much prefer this, just a nice simple silver. Graham, is that a rattle can or professional jobbie? Might get a 2nd hand plenum and give this a go... I'd say Graham's is powdercoated I just used rattle cans on mine and painted it silver. Although the finish isn't as smooth as Mark's and Graham's coated ones, I'm still happy with the result. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cs2000 Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 (edited) Does look very good, hence the question Wonder how many cans of paint it would take as id be keen to get it colour matched. Edited August 23, 2013 by cs2000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mopedmark Posted September 7, 2013 Share Posted September 7, 2013 Do it right ( whichever way you choose to have it done,) or do it twice 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OV53 Posted September 7, 2013 Share Posted September 7, 2013 Do it right ( whichever way you choose to have it done,) or do it twice Do it nice or do it twice....... Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dblock Posted September 8, 2013 Share Posted September 8, 2013 Never thought about powder coating the plenum good idea. Polished tb and coloured bolts from the looks of it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glrnet Posted September 8, 2013 Share Posted September 8, 2013 Does look very good, hence the question Wonder how many cans of paint it would take as id be keen to get it colour matched. It's powder coated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d95gas Posted September 8, 2013 Share Posted September 8, 2013 In addition to the above, GTECHNIQ do a metal polish which also forms a crystal shell over the polished metal. In fact the Gtechniq stuff takes any polished metal to another level when it comes to clarity. I've had stuff professionally polished to give Wow factor then applied Gtechniq M1 and the result is jaw dropping. This is the stuff I am talking about HERE It does protect as well. Little bit of info from Detailingworld HERE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timb2010 Posted September 8, 2013 Author Share Posted September 8, 2013 Well, i keep coming back here and seeing how good Wassos plenums are so I've decided to try and buy a 2nd plenum and have a go at this at my own pace. I threw a bench grinder in the skip about a year ago, typical. Wasso - mate!!! Please tell me that wasn't a real photo of your blistered hands!!!!?? Haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samsniss350z Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I much prefer this, just a nice simple silver. Graham, is that a rattle can or professional jobbie? Might get a 2nd hand plenum and give this a go... I really like the finish on this and would also like to know if its a rattle can job or a pro job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbeast35 Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I really like the finish on this and would also like to know if its a rattle can job or a pro job. answer is in post #32 above Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaddyCee Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 i wants one, mines so damn grimey. anyone up for selling a spare? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timb2010 Posted September 12, 2013 Author Share Posted September 12, 2013 Well.... Plenum arrived today thanks "ZmanAlex" !!! Polished it for about an hour with P60 Dry Sand paper...... not sure I will be able to see it through to the end... What ive found... Its loads messier than I thought Its loads harder on the fingers than I thought It takes a lot longer than I thought!! Ive spent an hour on half of it and about 20min on one small area. On this small area as a test I used P60 then moved on to P120 wet and dry. I just cant get down past the pitting. I think I need some tools on this. Will borrow a "Mouse" sander tomorrow and have another blast. As it came: 1Hour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dblock Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 If your doing it by hand, it wont get done... Without tools etc that is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasso Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 By hand it will get done but you'll have stumps for fingers and the rest of your life polishing. A mouse sander is only good for the flat areas. You'll never get into the tight. Areas and there's a risk of sanding down the contours too far. Ok here's what you need. A drill Flap wheels 3 sizes from 1/2", 1" and 2". Grit levels needed 120, 240, 360. Wet and dry paper 120, 240, 360, 500 and so on. If you have access to a bench polisher get hold of 2 pop sizes 2" and 6 or 8". In each size you'll need a Sisal, Stitched mop and loose mop. Keep at it and trust me you'll feel defeated for 80% of the process. My first plenum took 30hrs only because I had to learn the process. You'll find out the hard way the issues as you race forward to get it done. I've dealt with a couple of half hearted attempts supplied to me to fix and its all about the prep. If you don't prep the surface correctly you'll rise through grit levels and leave marks in the finish. My plenums leave in top quality mirror finish, if it meets my own standards then I release it. If not I go back a couple of stages with the mops and spend more time getting it perfect. Only another minimum 18.5hrs to go. Maybe this will spur you on a bit...... And here you can see the benefits of using a bench polisher. Which on the left is upto 500 grit and the right side is the full range of mops from cut, cut/finish, finish. Keep at it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timb2010 Posted September 12, 2013 Author Share Posted September 12, 2013 Thank you.... So what's your address to send it to you again ?? Cost of drill attachments, sandpaper, wet and dry, bench polisher with mops... On top of that my time. Probably a bad move to do it myself Might give it another try at the weekend!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasso Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 Well? Progress? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timb2010 Posted September 15, 2013 Author Share Posted September 15, 2013 (edited) None... Just cringe when I walk past it now. Saw this on eBay: http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=300922552013 Seems to tick some of the items on your checklist! Edited September 15, 2013 by timb2010 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasso Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 Remember what I said about prep, well that's the hard part. You need to get to this level before ironing out the areas of pitting. Then once you've removed pitting and you have no heavy grit lines can you then start using the bench polisher. The horrible part as I say is prep, that probably takes half the time of the entire plenum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timb2010 Posted September 15, 2013 Author Share Posted September 15, 2013 Thanks Wasso, had another 30min go with the p60.. I'm no way near your top picture. I think before I buy the polisher I will try the drill flaps. My plan was to do my spare, swap it, then polish my original and sell. But I think I will be lucky to do the first step. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasso Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 i wouldn't even start at 60. Start with a flap wheel on a drill at about 160grit. Don't forget the drill will outperform human power. So go careful and keep the flap wheel flat against the surface, otherwise you'll dig right into the aluminium. Using the smallest of flap wheels and a high grit level of say around 320 you can then start to shape the mouldings (where the pitting is hardest to remove). Patience is key in this process. Keep tapping away until you've rid yourself of the casting and the pitting. Trust me don't race ahead otherwise you'll only be going back stages to fix what you missed. Pitting is the hardest to remove without creating great big holes or marks. Don't forget you've also got the trick parts around the front and the step all the way round. Patience....... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timb2010 Posted September 15, 2013 Author Share Posted September 15, 2013 (edited) Well the TV broke today and its raining really hard.. So with Wazzos advice I went back to it.. Even better I found these in the shed. Im on hour 4 now and I think I've got the majority of the pitting from the flat areas. The drill bearings might be knackered and I can hardly clench my hand with the vibrations but I think I'm getting somewhere!! Edited September 15, 2013 by timb2010 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasso Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 You're getting there Forget that toothed rusty piece you have unless you want to cut it I'm half You'll need a fresh edged flap wheel to get at the edges of the raised points. Go careful not to lose the shape. I use these (front right) for hard to reach areas. Use a high grit level such as 360 for intricate areas so not to chop into the aluminium too much. Also start concentrating on the edges as they take the longest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaddyCee Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 would a dremel be man enough for the job? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timb2010 Posted September 19, 2013 Author Share Posted September 19, 2013 Wasso.... I'm throwing in the towel mate. I gave it a good go but its too time consuming. I'm also not going to get a good result without ploughing more money into equipment and products!! To.make it worse, after spending 80quid on a plenum, there's one for sale for 30quid delivered in the for sale section!!! Think I might get the rattle cans out lime I4N suggested. Thanks for all the advise mate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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