there really is no point in going higher than 1000 grit paper. the way i do it is:
1) wet sand everything starting with about 150 grit then work your way up going to 220, 400, 600, and finally 800. only use the black sandpaper because its the only kind that can hold up to wet sanding.
be careful not to sand in one small area too long or you'll have a wavy finish. you really wanna change directions with the sandpaper as much as posible because it helps get out the scratches easier and keeps it from getting wavy. dont cut corners here, any scratches will show.

2) get a buffing wheel and some rubbing compound. you can buy a buffing kit at sears or home depot that can fit on your drill and comes with the compounds and everything. there should be 3 sticks, a really dark brownish blackish one, a lighter brown one, and a white one. i usually just use the lighter brown one.
buff the aluminum untill its shiny but dont rev it too high or stay in one spot too long because the compound will burn. you dont have to go too nuts, it polishes pretty easy. after this, clean the compound off with a rag. any solvents will dull it so its best to just rub it off.

3) polish it using mothers billet aluminum polish. its a cream that comes in a little jar and you can get it from autozone. it says BILLET right on the front of the jar, you'll know it when you see it. best shit i have found as of yet. just follow the directions on the jar, its easy. use a soft cloth to buff it.

this should cost you about 15 to 20 bucks to do and it will take a little while by hand, expecially around raised lettering. probably a good 2-3 hours of sanding to get it perfect if you have raised lettering like the vtec emblem. once its all sanded, it will take about 20 minutes to buff it, max.

good luck! once you're done, it will look like chrome if you did it right.

 

i chrome my valve cover out like last year, and still is chrome til this day.
both method works, but 2000grit is just for a smoother touch.

 

any pics???

 

i chrome my valve cover out like last year, and still is chrome til this day.
both method works, but 2000grit is just for a smoother touch.

after polishing a few motorcycle frames and a bunch of other shit, i have found that there is no need for anything over 800 grit as long as you dont take any shortcuts. you will have the same results as if you went all the way to 2000 grit.

 

any pics???

Yeah, can someone post up some pics of the results?

 

Here's mine:

Done about 4 months ago. Started with 400, ended with 1500 wet sand.

I'll take some more pics later today.

 

dang man looks great! i'm plannin on doing this tomorrow. would it be needed to replace the valve cover seal? how long am i lookin at for doin this?

 

dang man looks great! i'm plannin on doing this tomorrow. would it be needed to replace the valve cover seal? how long am i lookin at for doin this?

took me about 4 hours without stopping to get everything the way i wanted.

 

nice write up

 

well i havent polished my valve cover yet because frankly my car isnt worth maintaining it but here's my current motorcycle's frame. the polish job is about 1 year old. i polish it every month or so lightly with mother's billet polish. i started with 150 grit because it was a really rough sandcast finish and finished with 800 grit. picture isnt the best, ill try and take another

oh and here's the before. ignore the big dummy in the middle.

 

also, i forgot to mention.... heavy duty easy off oven cleaner takes off the anodizing on aluminum. be sure to take off the anodizing before sanding because its pretty tuff shit. just spray it on for about 30 minutes and when it turns black then just rinse or wipe it off

 

dadfadfadf

 

My before and after...

Tell me what you guys think.

 

good job

 

yea looks nice

 

do you guys know if i could get my intake manifold to look like my valve cover? :confused i just ordered my aem intake in polished and wanted it all to look sort of the same...

 

Tell me what you guys think.

looks good

 

I did it! Pics tomorrow.

 

nice man can't wait to see it

 

that looks real nice, im just to lazy to polish mine, i just shot it with some crinkle paint and it looks pretty damn good

 

well i did mine check it

 

Polished valve cover DZ16 Sohc Vtech

I started with 150 -220 then 250 wet 500 wet 1000 wet and finally 1200 wet then polished with Meguires

Its not Perfect, doing around the letters was a pain in the ass.

used a dremel tool with metal polishing attachment (looks like a cone shaped wire brush) to get it clean around all the lettering.

 

did you realize the post before yours was over 4 years ago? /\

 

rocker cover polish

Its all good baby someone will read it and possibly learn from it.