Hot Rods Polished transmission give me motivation!!

I read the ***le wrong,I thought it said polish transmission.

Looks like a lot of work but if you want to why not? HRP

 

Polished, but not covered up......except for the polished stainless heat shield.

 

Man,when I went to work yesterday in my Deuce pickup it was hotter than the hinges of hell and I felt like a roasted chicken coming home and I have insulation I can't imaging how hot it gets with no floor. HRP

 

Looks cool but kinda dangerous looking!

 

Polished is nice, and I can appreciate the time and work that goes into it. Myself, I'm more of a subdued appearance type, and would blast it clean, maybe sand out the parting lines and mold ejection marks, then clear it. Leave it a nice, natural color.

Roger

 

Believe it or not, it really isn't an issue until it's 90 degrees out or higher. When it is 90 degrees out at high noon, the suns heat is way worse than the trans heat! It actually helps on cool evenings, when a little warmth is welcomed. I was a little concerned during the build, but it really isn't much of an issue, and would do it again in a heart beat. It works good in Wisconsin, but not sure about down south.

 

When I was 16 years old I polished the Muncie for my '40 tudor. I also polished the Offy bellhousing, the Fenton heads, the Thickstun intake, the alum battery box, the finned Buick drums, the distributor housing, and many other aluminum parts I've since forgotten. None of them compared to the fully polished (including in between the ribs) Halibrand quickchanges my Dad did BY HAND.

Polishing aluminum is a poor man's way to make shiney. But it sure looks good!

 

A little hint for anyone wanting to polish anything. Get yourself a palm sander. Either an electric one or pneumatic. It will make the job at least 100 times easier. Believe me, as I have polished a full acre of aluminum from sand-cast to mirror-shine.

 

Don't have details ... but was at a swap meet in New Braunfels TX a couple of weeks ago and there was a vendor there (he's got a hot rod shop in Hutto -- not Reggie!) and he had a fully chromed TH-350 case for sale. I know it would be totally hidden in most cars ... but it looked killer. At $300 OBO, I admit I was tempted.

 

Every time I see a painted trans. case, I wonder if it affects the trans temp?

 

I, too, was wondering about the temperature of painted and/or polished aluminum. I was always under the impression that totally smooth items did not cool as well. It's the bumps and indentions that help remove heat. That is why you have fins on many parts, it aids in cooling. Of course if it is a show car and not going to be driven, polishing will look great.
Speaking of painting engine blocks black, I was told many years ago that black was better for getting rid of heat. Yeah, you can't see oil leaks, but if it's built right, that shouldn't be a problem. I paint all my engines black and usually don't have a cooling problem. So maybe it does work. Just my opinions.

 

I started out to polish the Powerglide I put behind the Blown 392 in my old flatbottom ski boat, like someone said I cleaned up all the casting flash and parting lines. My test area didn't polish well so I ended up sanding and painting the case with black VHT motorcycle case paint. It had the look of powder coating and it never chipped or faded even though it was right there in the middle of the boat in 100 degree plus sun. Funny thing was, once it was all ***embled and in the boat, it actually looked better than the polished case would have.
Metal polishing has gotten a little easier over the years and if Dirt in ur Beer can offer some helpful professional tips, hey, why not. It is a hot rod - do it your way.

 

Surface area helps disperse and shed heat and polishing does remove surface area. So logically, polishing should have some effect on its ability to disperse and shed heat. The same logic tells you that ******* in the ocean should change the amount of water in that ocean too.

I haven't done any testing but I'm more than reasonably certain that polishing's effects are minimal compared to the heat shedding capacity of the Trans cooler.

Removing fins would be in a whole different realm of cooling theory and easily measured surface area loss.

 

So how's your polish job going ?