Willsys VTS Engine conversion. Hydra now available to others, price included

[Toad]

I don't think they HAVE to be coloured. I think it's more to do with the current state of them. What happened exactly? The job looks half finished. I remember mine looking like that at one point.

[willsy]

Originally Posted by Toad

I don't think they HAVE to be coloured. I think it's more to do with the current state of them. What happened exactly? The job looks half finished. I remember mine looking like that at one point.

Ill let Lee explain how things went as ive no idea myself what the polishing process is.

Plenty of time yet to decide what to do with them. Feedback and thoughts all welcome

[LEE_VTR1]

Originally Posted by Toad

I don't think they HAVE to be coloured. I think it's more to do with the current state of them. What happened exactly? The job looks half finished. I remember mine looking like that at one point.

right toad,
heres what happened, i took mates rocker covers to my work as i work in the aerospace/automotive industry producing work for companys like rolls royce, boeing, tvr, aston martin, lotus.

so the work thats done at my place is to a certain high standard.

but to start with matts rockers got degreased using a chemical degrease called triclorethylene which removed 75% of all engine oil from the rockers and most the factory paint they come with, i then shot blasted them to remove the top layer of the rocker cover to give me a smooth finish to start polishing on after the first polish i wasnt happy with the outcome so i re shot blasted them and sanded them over with fine grade wet and dry to give them a smoother surface and then polished again by this time a few imperfections in the material had been revealed which i could not remove without removing a large amount of the material from the rockers.

where did you get yours polished or how did you do them yourself??

i did tell matt i wasnt happy with the outcome when i gave them him back.
being aluminium there are very hard to give a nice surface finish

heres a couple of pictures i took at work hope this helps toad

when i first got them


after shotblasting


polished

[Toad]

Here's some old'ish pics of mine:







I used 4 grades of wet and dry, all by hand, and then some AutoGlym metal polish to finish. Also, I did it with the covers still on the head. What a numpty for doing that... lol

[Predator_R32p]

with shotblasting it does make it cleaner but can also pitt the surface, means a lot of sanding to get a good finish for polishing, should of just got a well used wire brush and nitromors on it, then a bit of elbow grease with the sand paper

[stevenet15]

i did the same tequnique as you with mine toad, i washed them in some degreasant then used different grades of sandpaper to get them smooth (80, 120, 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000 then 1200) and this is how they looked






after this stage i had run out of time so i had to put them back on the car but a few days later the autosol metal polish i ordered off ebay had arrived so i polished them with it and it made them shine like a mirror but forgot to take a pic at the time

[willsy]

Ill take a trip to get some grades of sandpaper this week then and give it a bash with that.

What was the lightest grade that any of you used? 1200ish? As most of the works done i can probably start at around 200 grade as the 80 would be going backwards perhaps.

[Toad]

If you go to halfrauds, they sell some fairly well priced wet and dry, and the grades are all clearly marked. As Lee has already done a lot of work on them, you won't need anything too corse. I suppose it really depends on how deep you need to go to get rid of any staining.

I think I used something like 150, 450, 800, 1200, and even 1500 to finish with. The AutoGlym polish made the BIG difference, as it turned it from a murky grey to a bright, almost mirrored effect.

Wills, I would probably have a bash with some 800 for starters, and see how you go, and if that's not helping, go down to 450 roughly...

[willsy]

Thats ace help cheers

Already got some AutoGlym metal polish so thats good. Will take a trip to halfords in the morning

[Toad]

No worries dude!

[LEE_VTR1]

yea i think the wet and dry method appear to have turned out alot better matt really sorry about this mate at least youve got a smooth surface to work off now at least.

i did say i wasnt happy with the turn out though didnt i

[rushy_23]

Toad how you did that with them still on the head I really dont know. You really
are just hardcore or superman or something I dunno lol.

When I started on mine, there was crap flying everywhere!

[Toad]

Haha. Well, I don't advise doing what I did.

[rushy_23]

Neither do I you nut job!

[Toad]

Oi! lol

[willsy]

Originally Posted by LEE_VTR1

yea i think the wet and dry method appear to have turned out alot better matt really sorry about this mate at least youve got a smooth surface to work off now at least.

i did say i wasnt happy with the turn out though didnt i

No problem atall mate, appreciate the help with them. Theyre clean which makes it a whole lot easier without oil and grease everywhere lol and its certainly a damn good start on them anyway.

Plenty of time to perfect these things so all is good

[Luke]

When is the car coming off road again?

[willsy]

End of this month... nervous!

[stevenet15]

here is my orrigional thread showing how my cam covers looked before and after sandpapring them http://www.saxperience.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53288

[dsh85]

willsy car rocks my world

i wont forget manifold and sensor at xmas party dude!!!!