HD8s Manifold Setup

[GTsRFine]

I polished up a set of HD8s & manifolds for a friend's 64 XKE. Whoosh... what a lot of work. But they sure are shiny.

 

[why]

Wow, magnificent, did you do all that with some type of compound and a rag or a buffing wheel on a drill, man how did you do that?
Jay Glass
'67 Etype

 

[GTsRFine]

Thanks -
I started out with jeweler's files to get rid of the gouges and casting lines.
Then I used something similar to a Dremel accessory. Dremel calls it EZ-Lok and it has pads similar to the material of 3M scuffing pads. I made up my own which worked better but the Dremel EZ-Lok setup is quick and easy. Dremel makes 3 different pads - brown about 120 grit, black about 220, and purple about 320 grit.
After getting the surface right, I used 500 grit sandpaper to level the surface, then 1000 grit for final smoothing - mostly by hand.
Then a 6" sisal buffing wheel and buff and buff and buff. I used the black compound that Caswell sells for Aluminum. For the nooks and crannies I used felt bobs of different sizes and shapes.
Finish up with a 6" cotton wheel and the black compound. Use a smaller cotton wheel for the tight areas. You can use the finer compounds for this last pass if you want to, but I found it was not necessary. If you do change compounds, don't forget to wash the part in hot soapy water to get rid of the first compound before starting in with the next.
When you get it the way you want it, wash it in hot soapy water to get rid of the buffing compound. Then wipe down with mineral spirits. Then hot soapy water again. Then wipe down again using Acetone to get rid of the mineral spirits. Acetone is nasty stuff so take appropriate precautions. Then if you want to you can spray it with Diamond Clear but be careful with this stuff and don't get it into any areas that have critical clearance. Careful masking is a must.
I also chrome plated all the linkages and that was a pain in the butt.