Progress Thread Cobra Rack In...Still Have Steering Slop

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To start off I hit it with a wire brush attatched to the drill. Then I hand jammed it with sand paper dry then then wet. After that I used polishing disc and ball that comes with head light resot kit. That picture sucks, it was taken in a garage with no light at like 930. The part that I tested on has a mirror shine, it looks awesome.
 
Was never a fan of BBK headers, but that rust and flash is expected as they were probably sitting around in a warehouse. After you clean it up I'd spray some VHT ceramic paint on those areas. I really prefer the FMS ceramic shorty headers as the quality is very good

I know that FMS shorties are the best (for shroties), but I had thought BBKs were a close second. I went with them because I thoughht they sealed well, at least better than the MACs I have. I didnt want to go ceramic coated because I dont think it is really neccessary for how I use the car. Honestly I am really disappointed in the BBKS and may even return them. I had flow tech headers on my old 5.0 and I never had a problem with them and they even looked better
 
I know that FMS shorties are the best (for shroties), but I had thought BBKs were a close second. I went with them because I thoughht they sealed well, at least better than the MACs I have. I didnt want to go ceramic coated because I dont think it is really neccessary for how I use the car. Honestly I am really disappointed in the BBKS and may even return them. I had flow tech headers on my old 5.0 and I never had a problem with them and they even looked better


I just tore down to block and resurfaced heads and put back together. I have older MAC headers as well. The bolts are a bit difficult to use but so far no leaks after putting them back on. I took a wire brush to them and repainted a few coats. Stuck em back on and I drove a couple days, went to re-torq the bolts and they didn't need it! Maybe I just got lucky.
I really like the look of those chrome bbk's. Keep us updated on what you do.:pop:
 
I just tore down to block and resurfaced heads and put back together. I have older MAC headers as well. The bolts are a bit difficult to use but so far no leaks after putting them back on. I took a wire brush to them and repainted a few coats. Stuck em back on and I drove a couple days, went to re-torq the bolts and they didn't need it! Maybe I just got lucky.
I really like the look of those chrome bbk's. Keep us updated on what you do.:pop:

The equal lengths are just too much of a PITA for me to keep. I am going to refurb them and sell. I know LTs will be much better for my setup but my H Pipe is literally brand new. I am already over budget and I still need a few more maintenance items, the one no one factors into the cost of rebuilding. After I am done I am going to do a write up on how much this costs so I can refute all the people who say things like aluminum heads only cost a little bit more than iron gt40s...wrong!
 
So the wire brush would take off the ceramic coating down to aluminum again and then your polishing straight aluminum at that point?

I use a 7" buffing/grinding wheel, drill, dremel. a DA sander and sanding blocks. Bought them all at Harbor Freight years ago. For larger parts I start off with paint stripper to get all of the paint and grime off. Then I use a 60m 100, 220, 440, 600, 1000, then 1500 grit sandpaper. Then I do a red, white, and jeweler rouge on a buffer. I am rather anal so you may not need to do as many steps. Do not move on to the next step until you are satisfied with the results in that stage.

Here's some parts I did a few months back

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Always buy ceramic coated headers. It took me 5 headers to realize this over 20 years. First ones were stainless, then chrome (purple after 1st start up), then I painted a set, then I wrapped a set, etc. My last set of Long Tubes are MAC ceramic and after 5 years still look great.

Oh, I don't miss the polishing either.

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Well my first attempt at polishing came out, well pretty crappy. The intake was so pitted I would have had to start at a 40 grit to get everything even. At least the cobra plaque makes it look a little better.
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The bad news is I have run out of time to work on it more. But the good news is my engine will be ready on Friday. More to come.
 
Well my first attempt at polishing came out, well pretty crappy. The intake was so pitted I would have had to start at a 40 grit to get everything even. At least the cobra plaque makes it look a little better.
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The bad news is I have run out of time to work on it more. But the good news is my engine will be ready on Friday. More to come.

It doesn't look bad in the pictures, but there has been more than one time when I had to start over from 60 grit. I attribute my times to being impatient. You need to make sure all of the pitting are out before going on to the next grit in sanding.

If you don't have one, go to Harbor Freight and pick up a cheap 7" buffing wheel and some red, green, and white buffing compounds. The red will cut fairly aggressive and may remove some of the pitting. Make sure you wear protective eyewear, an apron as the compound flies everywhere, and thick gloves as the pieces get hot. Get different wheels for each compound. I used a thicker wheel for the red and green and then a flapper thin wheel for the white final polishing rouge.

The next part that needs to get polished is my AC compressor- probably the biggest PITA part under the hood. I'm seriously thinking of just paying to have it done as the last one I did took over 10 hours to do.
 
It doesn't look bad in the pictures, but there has been more than one time when I had to start over from 60 grit. I attribute my times to being impatient. You need to make sure all of the pitting are out before going on to the next grit in sanding.

If you don't have one, go to Harbor Freight and pick up a cheap 7" buffing wheel and some red, green, and white buffing compounds. The red will cut fairly aggressive and may remove some of the pitting. Make sure you wear protective eyewear, an apron as the compound flies everywhere, and thick gloves as the pieces get hot. Get different wheels for each compound. I used a thicker wheel for the red and green and then a flapper thin wheel for the white final polishing rouge.

The next part that needs to get polished is my AC compressor- probably the biggest PITA part under the hood. I'm seriously thinking of just paying to have it done as the last one I did took over 10 hours to do.
I think my impatience got the better of me. There is a harbor freight right down the road, but I have never been. I will have to check it out.

I really just want to get the car running so I need to concentrate on a few other things. I need to clean up the fuel rails and injectors because they are all rusted, get a correct sized belt, and get vac hoses so I can correctly setup the intake.

When I store for the winter I am going to work at it again. I want to hit the alternator, Iac, and belt tensioner as well
 
Well I decided to pull the pin on the polishing. Since the engine still isn't done, I figured I would try to go at it again. I hit it with 40 grit and I still could not get some of the rough spots out. There were some pits in it that were almost like 1/8 inch deep. The casting is just so rough, the quality control on these Chinese jobs are terrible.

When I checked out the motor yesterday at the shop I noticed they had painted the lower with high heat aluminum. It looked great so I decided to paint the upper to match.
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Only thing it's missing is the right length pushrods. It's the only thing I didn't provide. I new I would probably need longer ones but obviously couldn't measure. They are on order from summit now. I will be back Wednesday to pick up a completed engine hopefully
 
Only thing it's missing is the right length pushrods. It's the only thing I didn't provide. I new I would probably need longer ones but obviously couldn't measure. They are on order from summit now. I will be back Wednesday to pick up a completed engine hopefully
Who measured the push rod length for you?
 
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