I just sent some pics of an aluminum intake I'm considering having polished to folks I have used in the past for stainless steel and aluminum polishing. I understand everything costs more these days but I was ASTONISHED at their estimate. Perhaps they are spot on but I would like to get another estimate, does anyone have a recommendation for a person or business that does metal polishing? Thanks.
Oklahoma Elite Metal Polishing did these pieces for my buddy. Not cheap, but possibly cheaper than you what you were quoted.
$900 does seem like a lot. But I suppose established businesses have to cover their overhead and everything. Still, that intake doesn't even have too many crazy divots nooks and crannies. It's the crannies that get ya.
Why not do it yourself? Here's a tech thread I did & the results: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/polishing-polishing-finned-al-valve-covers.97179/
Hmmm, 900 bones is a bit rich in my book. That "Edmunds" lettering is not in there very deep. Sanding and polishing that area is going to take some time and effort. I'd guess it would take $100 in materials (small Dremel and die grinder polishing heads for the tight bits around the bolt stands and a box of abrasives for the flat areas). If you are a novice and want that lettering to remain, I wouldn't advise it. If you do attempt it, I'd hit that lettering area with 1000 max. That is the front of the manifold and the easiest seen, it MUST look good. If you were closer, I'd tackle it, but my price plus shipping and insurance will cost you as much as the local price quote. If you were local, I'd tackle that for half of what they quoted. If you do pay to have it done, make sure you want that logo lettering as sharp as possible (there has to be some deterioration in the process). It loses value as well as interest if the lettering is destroyed. If you do it yourself, I'm happy to help with tips, products, tools and compound recommendations. It isn't rocket science; you can do this and buy yourself some new tools in the process if you don't have them already. My quest is to make the hot rod world a shinier place to live.
Check with Andy Tants (he is in Columbus Ohio) I don't have a phone number but he is on FB (20+) Facebook and did a beautiful job on my 292 valve cover that I got in rough casting from 12 Bolt Tom. I'd find a machine shop that does a lot of work on aluminum engine parts that has a cold tank to soak aluminum in and have it cleaned that way before I sent it to anyone though.
For example, this was done by my chrome shop for a friend of mine. $300. It's very nice, could have been tighter in the valleys around the bolt stands but I would run this on anything I own. He chose not to polish the Eddie Meyer logo as he is going to paint that area. I would have polished the raised areas of the logo. $900? damn.
Sounds like a well I’ll do it if you want to spend exorbitant amounts of money quote, ie I don’t really want to do it…
It's unfortunate that your Edmunds intake is one of the few that wasn't polished at the factory. The majority of Edmunds intakes I've owned or seen over the years were.
As some who once made a living polishing aluminum I wouldn’t even touch that intake for $300-$400. There is untold hours of sanding and polishing to get a “show” finish. I honestly don’t think they are far off.
Yes. I polished a rough cast aluminum side cover for a 235/261, and it came out nice. I would consider the time I had in doing it preferable to spending $900.00.
Billy, Big thanks for your comments, recommendations, and precautionary advice regarding preserving the Edmunds script. I have polished stuff and am aware of the time involved. I polished the Edelbrock intake in the attached pic and was so burned out that when it came to the heads I shot them with gloss Cerakote ceramic and called it good. I contacted the folks that Hubnut recommended and was given a quote almost half as much, will be using them. Thanks again man.
Oh, and nice-looking flatty in the pic. That intake looks good! It takes a lot of time and patience to turn something out like that. I laughed at your comment about being burned out and just coating the heads. I polished a 5 speed this year, once I started, I was regretting the decision When you get the intake polished you might refresh your thread and post a picture of it. I never tire of looking at polished hot rod parts.
I WILL do that when I get it back. I too have always loved shiny hot rod parts. When I was 17 I rebuilt a Plymouth flathead 6 and even then I had some Bling on it.
I WILL do that when I get it back. I have always like shiny hot rod parts. At 17 my first engine build was a Plymouth flathead 6 and even it had some Bling on it.
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