Polished aluminum items

(click on any picture to enlarge, hit "back" to return to this page)
Throttle bodies, before and after polishing throttle bodies, before and after polishing throttle bodies, before and after polishing
Valley cover polished. valley cover, polished valley cover, polished
This is the intake manifold rearcap, before and after polishing. manifold rear cap, before manifold rear cap, after polishing
B bank thermostat housing, before and after polishing B bank thermostat housing, before B bank thermostat housing, after polishing
A bank thermostat housing, before and after polishing A bank thermostat housing, before A bank thermostat housing, after polishing
Here are both thermostat housings, polished. thermostat housings, polished
Both thermostat housing covers were also polished. thermostat housing covers, polished
The aluminum throttle captan was polished and the two linkage arm connectors were chrome plated. throttle capstan, polished
This picture shows the B bank manifold rear cap, before and after polishing. manifold rear cap, before and after polishing
This part of the polishing project was very minor, but kind of fun.
I wanted to replace the ugly distributor air filter with a small K&N filter. The old filter just lays randomly in the engine bay, with the end nozzle looking disconnected.
I've had several people pick it up and ask, "What is this supposed to be attached to?
To neaten things up, I decided to make a mounting bracket for the K&N filter and attach it to the back of the manifold.
old distributor filter
First, I cut a piece of aluminum stock. aluminum stock cut for distributor filter mount
I then used the bench grinder to shape it. distributor filter mount shaped
Next came the usual multiple sandings. distributor filter mount sanded
On to the buffing wheel for a full polish. distributor filter mount polished
To finish the bracket, I drill two holes, one for the K&N filter bolt, and the other for the rear manifold bolt.
holes in mount drilled, K&N filter, chrome manifold bolt
Here is the finished result, mounted on the back of the manifold.
Again, this is simply one of the minor, but nice touches that add up. It actually looks much more factory made than the original.
distributor K&N air filter installed