who polished there alternators?

[Dan95-5.0]

i'm going to be polishing my alt. soon and was wondering if anybody did this themselves.

the reason i ask is because i dont know if i should take it apart or leave it together?

any help would be awesome.

thanks

 

[VibrantRedGT]

I started to take the housing of mine a few months back. Took the bolts off then decided not to go any further. I may just duck tape the vents and polish around that. I got a bunch of other stuff to do first like struts and shocks.

 

[YEAHLOH95]

i took mine apart "it's a good time to check out the internals " and then painted the windings black .it will make for a nicer end result.

 

[94GTLaserRC]

I wanna go to a junk yard and get a bad one, then polish (or preferrably chrome) the case and put my internals back in.

Thanks
RC

 

[Dan95-5.0]

thanks for the replys guys.

My cars in storage right now and it kind of sucks to have all my polishing components here and not being able to polish anything.

as soon as i get my car back, i'm going to install the mac catback and go crazy polishing everything i can get my hands on.

Heres my list so far:
Alternator
Strut tower brace
stock maf
stock throttle body
intake plaque
hood prop (till i get some hood shocks)
and........
*cough* factory five stars *cough*

i plan on polishing some brackets but i dont know which ones i should do. i would like to do the easiest one now and then do the all the others when i do the H/C/I swap.

any and all advice allways welcomed

 

[94GTLaserRC]

http://4alterstartcom.verizonsupersite.com/chromealternators/

I want the one on this link!
RC

 

[urban96]

http://4alterstartcom.verizonsupersite.com/chromealternators/

I want the one on this link!
RC

haha RC... you got your link backwards... you have the address where the text goes and the text where the address goes

*edit* you fixed it

 

[Dan95-5.0]

http://4alterstartcom.verizonsupersite.com/chromealternators/

I want the one on this link!
RC

thats a pretty big price tag but it does look awesome

 

[94GTLaserRC]

Also more amps!
RC

 

[rickmazurek]

I polished mine in a TOTAL of about 6 hours. The casing isnt that bad to take off, all you need to do is take off the voltage regulator (use a paper clip to re-set the brushes when you re-install), take off the pully, take off the three bolts and the casing should slide off with no problems. When your putting it back together make very, very sure you align the casing right as it might stick and not want to come back off if you get it wrong.

Edit: by the way, sorry for it bein so dirty under there, I live in colorado and the weather hasnt been that great lately.

 

[Dan95-5.0]

I polished mine in a TOTAL of about 6 hours. The casing isnt that bad to take off, all you need to do is take off the voltage regulator (use a paper clip to re-set the brushes when you re-install), take off the pully, take off the three bolts and the casing should slide off with no problems. When your putting it back together make very, very sure you align the casing right as it might stick and not want to come back off if you get it wrong.

Edit: by the way, sorry for it bein so dirty under there, I live in colorado and the weather hasnt been that great lately.

cool. thanks for the reply and the pics. your engine compartment looks awesome. thanks for telling me everything i should know before doing it.

cant wait to get in there and start polishing!!

thanks again

 

[Prince95GT]

What steps do I have to do in order to polish something, I have the whole idea of how it all works and whats involved, just wondering what steps do I do from start to finish

 

[Dan95-5.0]

What steps do I have to do in order to polish something, I have the whole idea of how it all works and whats involved, just wondering what steps do I do from start to finish

this is probably the best site that everyone uses that tells you the basics. I've also done searchs on this forum too. lots of different tips are out there to help out. I havent polished a lot but i've done the basic stuff and have gotten great results. i stopped at 1000 grit wetsanding then used the componds and it looks good but there were still small scratches that were still visible. i'll go up at least 1500 wetsanding tho when i do the stuff on my car.

http://darkside351.tripod.com/mustang50world/id19.html

hope that helps.

maybe we could show off our polished goodies this summer seeing how your a fellow winnipeger.

 

[94GTLaserRC]

What steps do I have to do in order to polish something, I have the whole idea of how it all works and whats involved, just wondering what steps do I do from start to finish

Dont do the the alternator as your first polishing piece. You need to learn by practicing on flatter, smoother surfaces.

RC

 

[rickmazurek]

1000 grit and 1500 is way too much, I never go higher than 400 grit. If you still have scratches then you need to spend more time on the lower grits. Also, I have found that I get the best results by first dry sanding with 400 then wet sanding with 400 after I am done with the lower grits. I use the tripoli and white rouge from eastwood company and have found that those also give the best results that I have found. Also, if the piece has deep scratches or markings initialy then I use a dremel with a flap sanding wheel to take those out and then work it by hand, it just makes life a little easier and makes things go a little faster.

 

[94GTLaserRC]

I think it is worth the $$ to chrome the alternator, and avoid having to go in there with all those damn holes.
RC

 

[rickmazurek]

I think it is worth the $$ to chrome the alternator, and avoid having to go in there with all those damn holes.

But chrome retains heat, and on certain parts that generate heat that could turn out to be a problem. I say chrome as little as possible and polish as much as possible.

 

[Dan95-5.0]

1000 grit and 1500 is way too much, I never go higher than 400 grit. If you still have scratches then you need to spend more time on the lower grits. Also, I have found that I get the best results by first dry sanding with 400 then wet sanding with 400 after I am done with the lower grits. I use the tripoli and white rouge from eastwood company and have found that those also give the best results that I have found. Also, if the piece has deep scratches or markings initialy then I use a dremel with a flap sanding wheel to take those out and then work it by hand, it just makes life a little easier and makes things go a little faster.

i stopped at 800 wet sanding actually. And i saw better results goin to the finer grit.

after using the compounds, the results really showed. i didnt really notice a difference going from the tripoli and then to the white rouge. Am i doing something wrong???

i would think the 400 grit would be still to course. i'll give it a try tho and compare results.

on the parts i practiced on, i was doing it half-ass just to see how good i could do it. i was pleased by the results and the amount of time i did it in. I wouldnt want that quality on my car tho.

 

[94GTLaserRC]

They sell chrome alt's, and I know Riff has one..I dont think he has any probs with it.

I C your point tho.
RC

 

[rickmazurek]

Well, there are a few things you could be doing wrong. One is not spending enough time at each grit, another is using the same buffing wheel for both white rouge and tripoli (do NOT do this, the two negate eachother and results will be dull), or you could be using not so good compounds, or the buffing wheels you are using are the wrong kind (you should be using either a spiral sewn buff or a flap buff, either one you can get at home depot for like 2 bucks), another thing is maybe while buffing you are moving to fast and not working the compound into the metal (start in a small area and work it in good, until there is no black stuff left there, then move on), and finally maybe the equipment you are using isnt up to par, I use a bench grinder with my buffing wheels, I have tried the dremel and the drill but there is no comparison, the bench grinder shines em the best.