Polishing a 2g GSX 4g63 Turbo cylinder head & manifold

[GoProEntertainment]

what tool did you use to polish the manifold?

[441rider]

Cool vid even if it is for a car, LOL!

[ieon]

WELL DONE JAF! THUMPS UP!

[tartineaucaca]

Yeah nice job! What's the music track playing?



[mikedsm12]

hey what kinda of bits did you use? it looks way nice. i got my cylinder head off right now and i want it to shine like that. i got those same tubular headers too. i was just wondering if you could help me out with it, like what to use an stuff thanks!

[nugapa3]

What you gonna do about all the metallic particles that went into oil passages in that head ?

[Jafromobile]

@nugapa3 That's not my cylinder head. Well it is... it's just that it's a SPARE 7-bolt head, and not the 7-bolt head that's polished and mounted on the block. I'm just using that as an anchor to keep the manifold from snagging the wheel and flying across my back yard. That milwaukee DIY grinder is no joke.

Even if so, the metal particles that polishing produces are smaller than an oil molecule. The residue comes out quickly with soap & water or even faster with carb cleaner.

[Jafromobile]

@nugapa3 One of my more recent videos has an in-depth description of the polishing process.  I personally wouldn't recommend spending much time and money polishing that turbo header. It really didn't last long on my setup (and I don't mean the polished finish). "Turbo manifold swap #1" shows what it looked like and what happened to it after only 2500 miles. It was pretty during the build, but that's about all it was good for in my case.

About tools, read the video info at: NtfjM190uKM

[DSMSpeedyG]

Dame gorgeous !

[MentalChainsawDude]

Nice job

[kingofshibby]

way to do a quick job to avoid a 25 dollar gasket to do it right

[Jafromobile]

@kingofshibby It was just a re-polish. Had been polished before and that took months completely disassembled. Also, why remove the valve cover exposing the camshafts and oily bits to flannel and emery dust? Contaminating that would require removing the head and tanking it again. I'm not quite sure how this is doing it wrong?

[kingofshibby]

@Jafromobile i only caught the first few seconds of this vid where he was polishing with the exhaust manifold bolted to the head, after watching it again, i have seen that he takes it off, i never stated nor implied anything about the valve cover being removed.

[Jafromobile]

@kingofshibby OH. Hahahah. Yeah. That was actually a spare cylinder head, and at the time the exhaust manifold was even bolted on upside-down. I just did that for an anchor because the DIY grinder spins at 12,000 RPMs. Needed something heavy. I guess that's why I thought you were referencing the aluminum stuff. Party on doood.

[mrg7243]

what did you use to polish it???

[Jafromobile]

@mrg7243 The process is actually all documented in the comments. Click "see more comments" link below...

[Jafromobile]

There are lots of factors that affect it. Aluminum corrodes gradually in oxygen... but humidity, handling, chemicals, electricity and time certainly all play a factor. If you keep the surface clean and sealed, it lasts for a very long time. It corrodes instantly when it comes in contact with antifreeze. If you don't drive it much and your battery dies, polished surfaces corrode quickly. It takes a lot of maintenance, but it's beautiful if maintained with regular polishing.

[srhabb]

Why didn't I think of that?

[woodnbronze24]

wooow i love it

[brudman80]

Looks great. I have'nt seen a straight shaft electric for a while. They're alot stronger than air straights. nice work.

[41tonytone]

hahahaha dang check out "Tony Metal Art"

[DIOSpeedDemon]

The eastman or eastwood clear coat requires that you really clean the polished piece with acetone real well before applying clear coat. This dulls the piece a little , but the clear coat locks the shine in and never dulls. The problem is metal is porous like a sponge and aluminum oxidizes in the pores and gives you that white spots. The problem with the clear coat is I dont know if it will work on surfaces that get hot. I will get the can and post the directions. DSD

[DIOSpeedDemon]

GREAT WORK, 10 STARS**********. What kind of grinder is that and where can I get one>? Damn Beautiful Work. RESPECT RH DSD

[Jafromobile]

@DIOSpeedDemon It's a Milwaukee 4.5 Amp straight-shaft DIY grinder. I bought it used for $15, but googling it reveals it's about $250. After 6 years of polishing and re-polishing with it, porting manifolds with carbide bits, and cutting sheet metal with it using a cut-off wheel, it's on its last legs. It gets REALLY hot now and the shaft bearings are starting to go... but it's definitely a high-torque workhorse of a tool. Harbor Freight may sell a cheaper equivalent.

[jamesthq]

hi I have a Toyota Celica 140bhp and I want to fully tune a 190bhp engine from the ground up. Buy a shot engine off ebay and get low compression pistons and tune it as fully as possible could that be something you could do? Its an engine conversion for a Toyota Celica VVTI I have a competly stock engine but want to do a engine conversion with a supercharger

[Jafromobile]

It's flattering of you to ask, but I don't work on cars for a living, nor do I need to. If I did, I wouldn't be posting my knowledge on-line and running myself out of business. I have a day job as well as a my own business. I never will have time in my schedule for cars to be anything but a hobby, and I'm a Mitsubishi guy to the core.

My intention was to set up a channel full of motivational videos with just enough info in each one to empower anyone to tackle these projects themselves.

[cowmilky]

@Jafromobile You are the man, great effin vid!!!!!!!!!

[jtmagicman25]

very inspirational, next stop, polish whole engine and engine bay.

[Jafromobile]

Yeah, and I left the hardest part out. Sanding. If you're going to do this, start with a small piece and see if you have the eggs to do a larger piece. Not everyone has the patience for it. Starting a piece and not finishing it ruins the part's finish so you don't want to start with a big or obvious piece.

[jtmagicman25]

use an angle grinder with a small sanding end on it, that's what I did with and intake once.

[Jafromobile]

That's good andvice and that worked for me for rough stuff, but I found I couldn't do medium or fine grits with that because it either left tool marks in the part, or the finish wasn't even. The best finishes are hand-sanded.

[jtmagicman25]

Yeah, that's all I was talking about, just to shape it and get rid of the burs, when I did it, I just shaped it and painted it so it looked aftermarket. besides those die grinders are hard to control.

[bb4vic]

Good job! Looks awesome.

[CHIPYCHIPYLOVE]

What did you use to Polish the cylinder head & manifold..... im tired of sanding my parts and putting mothers it sucks ass.....get me know

[Jafromobile]

lol. If you're tired of polishing, then you're doing it right.

I hand-sanded my cylinder head and all of my other aluminum parts. From 220 grit to 1200 grit for 2 months, about 2-4 hours a day. The shine comes from a high-speed polishing wheel and black, & then white rouges. I follow up the polish with Mothers or an equivalent, and then the constant maintenance begins.

Check out ZoopSeal once you've achieved the shine you want. My whole process is below in the comments.

[CHIPYCHIPYLOVE]

thats fucking nice love it

[Jafromobile]

The wheels are flannel tripple-stitched polishing wheels. I recommend an electric power tool vs. air-powered for torque reasons, and your compressor will never cut off due to the time it takes, no matter how big it is. You can get bricks of rouge at truck stops. Sometimes they have the wheels, but you can harborfreight those cheaper.  Dremels aren't terribly useful, but they do come in handy on detail work. Cover up, that shit gets everywhere.

[Jafromobile]

When you start with a fresh cast, you have to smooth and de-bur everything, remove cast marks and imperfections, etc... This is pretty much the only time you can use power tools until polishing or you will see tool marks in the final finish. The best finishes are hand-sanded in at least 2 directions per grit. Starting at 220 and progressing to at least 600 before polishing. You sand until the directional grain from the previous pass is gone, then after 2 directions, step up to the next grit.

[Jafromobile]

...by the way. You have to wet-sand everything. You don't do any of the hand-sanding dry. It took 2 months to polish my head from a rough cast because it's so flippin' intricate, 5 hours a night in the sink until I had no fingerprints left. Aluminum will stain skin with prolonged exposure. It's said to cause alz-heimers in high concentration, but I don't believe it. Besides, if I'm ever lost and disoriented, I'll be in one bad-ass car having a good time.

[jjrock5]

haha. Yeah thats what I'd care about as well. Sometimes Im all beat up and cut up from working on it. I just go clean up really quick and go for a cruise. Nothin better than that. So I can get the wheels at Harbor Freight and the rouge at truck stops? Is the rouge available at Harbor Freight as well?

[jjrock5]

Another 5 stars from me. Can you post a process of how you did it? How much sanding for the head? Grit? What wheel were you using? Wire wheel? And what was that black substance you were applying to the wheel? Thanks man.

[Jafromobile]

The black stuff is emery rouge (rooj). It's a highly-abrasive cutting compound that's usually the ideal for most materials on the first polishing pass. In the case of stainless, this is the first and last pass. This compound actually drags the molecules of the material across the surface and smoothes out the rough spots bringing out the shine. White rouge is used for the final pass on aluminum, and then a good hand polish to make it pop. There are also brown and green used for other metals.

[dsmeclipsegsx]

WOAH man thats really impressing!!

[Running925]

we shal see how long it stays shinny! Especially after this long road trip coming up!

[DIRTYEVO]

killer job man

[Jafromobile]

Thanks man! I don't do it for me.

I'll have plenty more uploaded this week. It's gettin' close. :D