How to polish the timing chain cover

[tomking]

I need to polish my timing chain cover and wonder if there is some way of blast polishing it? For instance would walnut hull blasting polish it? I want to polish it and then clear coat it to keep bright. I just dont have the right equipment to do it with a polishing wheel. Thanks in advance.

[wrench459]

I've heard that Por-15 Glisten PC works good.
But the timing cover was cast very rough..so rough that is was painted.

[myopels]

Originally Posted by tomking I need to polish my timing chain cover and wonder if there is some way of blast polishing it? For instance would walnut hull blasting polish it? I want to polish it and then clear coat it to keep bright. I just dont have the right equipment to do it with a polishing wheel. Thanks in advance.

Tomking, I don't know if you have ever heard of eastwood tools, but they have a ton of polishing and sanding and blasting tools and accessories. They could also tell you the best way to accomplish what you want to do. If you have it off the motor it would look great polished up and then clear coated, or you could find a powder coater and shoot that onto the cover. that would be bulletproof-see also eastwood. I would go over it and sand all the rough casting spots to prep it for whatever you plan. good luck-gerold

[yellaopelgt]

Ive done this twice now with decent results.....obviously the only way is with the cover off,but degrease with a reputable degreaser,then take a fine wire wheel and deep clean all the grease out of the pores of the metal, then thouroughly clean again with a solvent such as mineral spirits. After that.....and it will take FOREVER to get it clean, I sprayed with a high temp clear coat. Do not get overspray on the mating gasket surface. It holds up quite well...
HTH
Joe

[Jerry C]

Originally Posted by yellaopelgt Ive done this twice now with decent results.....obviously the only way is with the cover off,but degrease with a reputable degreaser,then take a fine wire wheel and deep clean all the grease out of the pores of the metal, then thouroughly clean again with a solvent such as mineral spirits. After that.....and it will take FOREVER to get it clean, I sprayed with a high temp clear coat. Do not get overspray on the mating gasket surface. It holds up quite well... HTH Joe

I been working on mine for a while. I used a lot of sand paper rolls and am working with felt bobs and compound. I been using a dremel tool I will guess I have 10 hours in this so far, and guess I have 5 more to go.

[tomking]

Originally Posted by yellaopelgt Ive done this twice now with decent results.....obviously the only way is with the cover off,but degrease with a reputable degreaser,then take a fine wire wheel and deep clean all the grease out of the pores of the metal, then thouroughly clean again with a solvent such as mineral spirits. After that.....and it will take FOREVER to get it clean, I sprayed with a high temp clear coat. Do not get overspray on the mating gasket surface. It holds up quite well... HTH Joe

Joe when you say take a fine wire wheel, do you mean brass wheel or steel? Isnt either one going to scratch the surface rather than polish? Are you not buffing it at some step? Will your method leave it with a brushed finished instead of bright? Thanks.

[yellaopelgt]

I used a very fine steel wheel with alot of pressure.....(in the same direction ALL the time)it doesnt scratch when you do it correctly. It will actually shine it up. I wanted to get it to a bright finish as if it were chromed and this did the trick. The difficult part was getting into the small cracks and such. just be sure to clean it good before you clear-coat it ,or it will tarnish. I've had mine on for for a few years and it still looks great!
BTW I did NOT use a polish or anything, I wanted the clear-coat to adhear directly to the metal (my thoughts were that a wax would create a barrier between the metal and the clear-coat and then it would flake off) I think I used dupli-color 1200 degree clear-coat in a rattle can.
Joe

[RallyBob]

There is also electro-polishing and tumble/vibratory polishing as an alternative. However you would have to mask off all dimensionally critical surfaces to avoid changes in clearances. Certainly easier than polishing by hand.

[Redskinsjbs]

Originally Posted by yellaopelgt I used a very fine steel wheel with alot of pressure.....(in the same direction ALL the time)it doesnt scratch when you do it correctly. It will actually shine it up. I wanted to get it to a bright finish as if it were chromed and this did the trick. The difficult part was getting into the small cracks and such. just be sure to clean it good before you clear-coat it ,or it will tarnish. I've had mine on for for a few years and it still looks great! BTW I did NOT use a polish or anything, I wanted the clear-coat to adhear directly to the metal (my thoughts were that a wax would create a barrier between the metal and the clear-coat and then it would flake off) I think I used dupli-color 1200 degree clear-coat in a rattle can. Joe

A polish is simply a wax infused with a certain sized particulate. If you would like to paint a polished surface after it has been polished, simply clean the surface with acetone or mineral spirits very well and paint as you normally would.

[markandson]

Tom,
I use sandpaper rolls on a dremel tool in the hard to reach areas, be careful cause deep scratches are difficult to get out, wet/dry paper, small stainless steel brushes on the dremel tool, lots of elbow grease, and then polish with tripoli, you can also use a more coarse compound on a buffing wheel before going to the tripoli which would speed up the final buffing process. Use a 6" buffing wheel on an arbor that you can chuck into your electric drill, or drill press. With a lot of patience and time you can get it to look like a mirror. I use stuff called Coricone which is not a paint or lacquer, it is a sealer for non-ferrous metals. I used it on a brass Piano hinge 30 years ago and it still looks fine. I used it on my 2.2 intake, so far it seems to be holding up to the heat. Eastwood diamond clear is nice stuff also.