After a discussion about polished plenums, i though i would post up my progress so far

 

Plenum nearly finished, got the last polish to do, which i will complete once its ready to go back together.

Some before and after pics:

 

 

More

Edited February 26, 201114 yr by groover

Superb. Fancy doing mine? LOL :wink:

Hats off to ya. Thats gotta be the nicest polished plenum ive seen. Well done to ya, must of taken alot of time.

Hats off to ya. Thats gotta be the nicest polished plenum ive seen. Well done to ya, must of taken alot of time.

 

Shhhhh.... Andy Ish will get upset...

 

But you do have a valid point in that it does look great... lots of effort eh Graham?

 

I want a polished plenum now!

Superb. Fancy doing mine? LOL :wink:

 

No :tt2:

 

Once ive got the boredom of doing one out of my mind, i might consider doing another as i have a spare in the garage. At least i know whats involved now and the best way to go about it :laugh:

looks great but what puts me off is the constant maintenance it will require to keep it like it.

It was alot of effort, but hats off to Andy, he did the V channel too as he has gone naked with the throttle cover lol and seeing his inspired me to do one.

I know what you mean Gaz, but once its sealed with brilliant polish or autosolmost if it will be a wipe over with a cloth. Ive decided against the polished rockers and im painting them the same colour as the car, along with the throttle cover and cam covers.

I have chrome 3D lettering for the Nissan logo for the throttle cover and with the rear engine skin, should tie together quite nicely

It was alot of effort, but hats off to Andy, he did the V channel too as he has gone naked with the throttle cover lol and seeing his inspired me to do one.

 

why not chrome it now youve got a super smooth base for a good finish?.

Would it not be easier to keep looking shiny?. After all the effort to polish it would it last any longer if it was chromed?

why not chrome it now youve got a super smooth base for a good finish?.

Would it not be easier to keep looking shiny?. After all the effort to polish it would it last any longer if it was chromed?

 

Over time with heat, chrome can tarnish, unless its triple chromed, which becomes expensive. If you get this far with polishing, theres no point in chroming it lol

Im aiming for this, but with the cam covers done too, along with the throttle cover

 

 

No :tt2:

 

Once ive got the boredom of doing one out of my mind, i might consider doing another as i have a spare in the garage. At least i know whats involved now and the best way to go about it :laugh:

 

Mate if you ever sell it.... let me know dude, or Daffy as he is desperate for one.

Im aiming for this, but with the cam covers done too, along with the throttle cover

 

 

 

I like that a LOT mate - very cool.

Looks spot on but its a pig to keep it like that. mine needs fully doing again :(

It was alot of effort, but hats off to Andy, he did the V channel too as he has gone naked with the throttle cover lol and seeing his inspired me to do one.

 

Cheers Graham.

 

It would be great to see more people doing the centre channel and hiding the wires away. You may as well now you have gone this far!! Come on Bud you are used to playing with wires!!!!

 

As for chroming I would not recommend for the reasons you stated. Also, any marks you get through knocks or scratches are easily polished out.

 

The one thing that has surprised me over the last year or two on mine is how low maintenance it has been. The key is to polish it as fine as you can while it's off the car, put a wax polish on like RimWax or Colonite then every now and again give it a touch up. I only got a few light speckles after leaving mine untouched for 6 months last year.

 

Either way - nice work buddy!

I look at these threads and I know Daz as polished his and I wonder when I will get the bug, it seems very contagious :pinch:

 

Looks stunning though Graham and coming along nicely but no bugger will hardly see it, I suppose it is not much different from me lighting up little bits in the interior :huh:

 

Sure my view will change and I will soon have the chrome bug - or will I :turned:

Quick Q fellas,

 

Did you do the throttle linkages and spring the same way? I want to smooth mine and powder coat it but was thinking of polished throttle bodies and linkages.

 

Cheers, Rob

Hi Rob, i only used the sisal mop for the springs and link bar, then the softer polishing mop. No need to sand as the metal is already smooth, just dirty. I did take them apart from the throttle bodies, makes getting to the little collars easier, also cleaned the inside of the throttle body and butterfly.

The housing of the throttle body i used an oakley paint/rust removing wheel, which acts as a great sanding/cutting tool to get a smooth finish, but still getting rid of the pits.

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/97385/Abrasives/Drill-Sanding/Sanding-Attachments/Oakey-Paint-Varnish-Remover?cm_mmc=AffiliateWindow-_-Datafeed-_-Abrasives-_-Oakey%20Paint%20%26%20Varnish%20Remover&source=aw

 

They are about £7 from B&Q

I look at these threads and I know Daz as polished his and I wonder when I will get the bug, it seems very contagious :pinch:

 

Looks stunning though Graham and coming along nicely but no bugger will hardly see it, I suppose it is not much different from me lighting up little bits in the interior :huh:

 

Sure my view will change and I will soon have the chrome bug - or will I :turned:

 

Not many people will see it lol, the reason im doing it is because ive deleted a lot of the crap, got new manifolds, cambelt etc etc... i will know its all clean and tidy under there and when the bonnet does get opened at meets or shows, i will feel happier about showing it :wink:

Laquered my Plenum about 3 years ago with laquer imported from the US, droped 2 drops of Gold pearl in it too. Still exactly same now as it was done then and no polishing lol

 

smithy

Laquered my Plenum about 3 years ago with laquer imported from the US, droped 2 drops of Gold pearl in it too. Still exactly same now as it was done then and no polishing lol

 

smithy

 

Ecellent, maintenence free would be nice.

 

By the way mate, when i get my door card off in the next few weeks, i will be able to finish off getting your switch to work, i didnt have much luck for a while getting it all to do as it was supposed to and figured it had something to do with the window amp. I have now managed to get hold of some info which shows one of the plugs going straight to the amp and not the original window switch. Will keep you updated and get it done as soon as, its been a fair while :whistling:

Hi Rob, i only used the sisal mop for the springs and link bar, then the softer polishing mop. No need to sand as the metal is already smooth, just dirty. I did take them apart from the throttle bodies, makes getting to the little collars easier, also cleaned the inside of the throttle body and butterfly.

The housing of the throttle body i used an oakley paint/rust removing wheel, which acts as a great sanding/cutting tool to get a smooth finish, but still getting rid of the pits.

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/97385/Abrasives/Drill-Sanding/Sanding-Attachments/Oakey-Paint-Varnish-Remover?cm_mmc=AffiliateWindow-_-Datafeed-_-Abrasives-_-Oakey%20Paint%20%26%20Varnish%20Remover&source=aw

 

They are about £7 from B&Q

 

Cheers for that Graham, I'm assuming it's done by power drill/dremel?.

 

On a totally different subject I will hopefully sending you some pods for LED'ing next month.

Yes mate drill, i put the drill in a vice and worked the piece on the wheel like a bench grinder, easier to get the angles.

 

No worries mate, just send a PM when you are ready to go.

 

Cheers

Graham

What do you guys mean by doing the centre channel? Hiding some of the wires?

The centre channel normally hidden under the throttle cover, has the coilpack and injector loom/plugs, which without the throttle cover would be visible. The idea is to do away with the throttle cover, hide the loom under the plenum legs and have the channel polished also, for an overall look.

Take a look at Andyisherwood's rides to see the difference

 

Edited February 27, 201114 yr by groover

I look at these threads and I know Daz as polished his and I wonder when I will get the bug, it seems very contagious :pinch:

 

Looks stunning though Graham and coming along nicely but no bugger will hardly see it, I suppose it is not much different from me lighting up little bits in the interior :huh:

 

Sure my view will change and I will soon have the chrome bug - or will I :turned:

 

I was the same as you mate, I thought what is the point of polishing under the bonnet? (a bit like my girlfriend is thinking at the moment)lol, but you do eventually catch the bug!! I spend all my spare time washing/polishing the exterior and I just `clicked` one day an thought stuff it "winter project"!!! and to be honest `yes` its very hard work but doesnt actually cost that much to make it look like that! and i reckon puts a few quid on the resale value if it was ever to be sold on!!

 

And hats off to Groover as that is one beautiful plenum bud, one of the best out there mate along with Andys, well done:thumbup1: