I don't think it's glass because every intake I've glass beaded left it a little dark and definately not polished. More satin, porous finish if anything. The pores are sealed and it's clean like new.
JW's Website info:::::: http://www.trishieldperf.com/Cast alum polishing.htm At TSP, we are always looking for ways to make a good thing better, or to preserve the pretty parts that leave here, so their owner can continue to enjoy them, long after the purchase is complete. Cast Aluminum has always been a problem. It is a porous material, so it literally "sucks in" any kind of contamination, which results in an almost impossible to clean stain, which typically can only be removed by glass bead blasting the part in question. And if that part is your intake manifold, that is not such an easy task. For the last several years, we have been working closely with local vendors, attempting to come up with a solution to this problem, and we are very excited about how this process has evolved. We have developed a proprietary vibratory polishing process that creates the shiny parts that you see throughout this website, and we are offering this service to the rest of our Buick friends now. And since there isn't any kind of material painted, or bonded to the aluminum, there is nothing to come off, or discolor.... ever! Beyond just the obvious appearance enhancement, polishing your cast aluminum parts with out unique service will protect you investment. Gone are the days of putting rubber gloves on before you touch your intake manifold, or getting distraught when you spill gas on it during a jet change. This process closes the pores of the material up, and grease, oil, fuel and dirt simply wipe right off. Anyone who has seen this in person.. wants it done for their parts! We offer quick turn around time, typically, it takes no longer than a week to get you parts on their way back to you, after we receive them.
Humm.......... I wonder what exactly the process is, and how it's done. Kind of makes me go HUMMMMMMMM.
Humm.......... I wonder what exactly the process is, and how it's done. Kind of makes me go HUMMMMMMMM.
Rich, We have done it a couple of ways.. I first got turned onto this process by walking by an olds manifold that was done in a similar manner, at one of my machinist's shops.. It stopped me dead in my tracks.. WOW, what did you do to this manifold! I asked.. Back then, I had them done by that machinist, and it was a 'friend of a friend" type deal. They were done with a ceramic media, in a virbratory polisher. They were not quite as shiny as our new process is now, there are a few of them done this way out there, and I have as of yet had anyone tell me that they don't look as good, three years later, as the day they were put on the motor. But turn around time was a little too long, and the manifolds would vary a bit in color, so I was on the hunt for someone else to do a similar process. After about a year, I finally located a local shop that would work with me on developing a similar process. One of the main problems with the ceramic was that they had to vibrate for about 5 hours, and often times that machine was tied up. So it could be weeks to get a manifold done. But this new process we developed actually takes much less time in the machine. It's done in a stainless steel shot now, with the same type of vibratory equiptment. The parts have to be real clean before the process, so used stuff does require glass beading. And the new vendor doing this for me can typically turn stuff around in as little as 48 hours. The only catch is that there is quite a bit of setup involved in the process, so I generally can't do just one part.. as that nearly doubles the price I have to charge. So I am going to do these in "runs" in which I can offer the prices on my website to do them in.. I have done a single parts, and it has ended up costing me money.. not good.. I think we are going to do a polishing run every 45 days.. in the middle of the odd number months. The next one will be in the middle of Sept. Except for the "stealth" motors that have gone out of here lately, every motor we have built has had some polishing done to the parts. Results from customers all over the country have been totally positive, after they first see the parts. Stage 1 Aluminum heads turn out awesome with this process, we have done a couple of sets now. Die cast parts like the water neck, and the aluminum brakets are really stunning.. And the beauty of it is, your new aluminum heads will stay looking like this.. basically forever. I strongly feel that we should be painting or polishing alumium heads, because sooner or later, they will not be so pretty anymore. This process not only does the outside of the manifolds, but also the inside, and the underside. Heads and timing covers have to be masked off with special plates that I build for this, as the steel media will hurt the guides, and I typically polish the heads after they are completely finished. We also do this to timing covers, and the oil filter housings, water necks, valve covers, water pumps and misc alumium brackets. I did this actually to keep my motors looking good, long after they are delivered to the customer and put in use. The polish is actually just a side effect of closing the pores of the material up, but it's a neat side effect. I am always looking for neat, functional things to set our products apart from what you can get elsewhere, and I have a lot of time invested in developing it.. I will be quite a while before I see any return on that investment, but in the meantime, a lot of guys have some neat looking parts on their cars. Here is the link to that page on the TSP site. http://www.trishieldperf.com/Cast alum polishing.htm I am glad to be able to offer this service, at a fraction of the price of hand polishing, which only does the outside, and does nothing to protect the coolant passages from corrosion. JW
