blown 87

Has anybody ever polished a set of man hole covers?

Title says it all.
What did you use as far as a buffer and compound?
I have a big buffer for paint, that should work, not sure what speeds it needs to be set at.

Any help, well would help.

The other Greg
Who is to poor in Georgia to buy new wheels and tires this month.

Fabio421

I've done a set. I used two different grits of rouge and a cotton wheel on a high speed drill. It took FOREVER. I would never do it again. I'll see if I cant check the grits for you when I get home.

kccampro

I had a set that I unloaded on ebay not too long ago. Except, I'm pretty sure they were 'chromed' ratehr than polished.

soupcan

I love this set up.

s928s

I did years a long time ago. This is how I did it
1. Used a small detail sander to cut off the coating about 220 grit
2. Went over the surface with sander again 400
3. Wet sanded with 400 then 600 then 800
4. Mothers alum. polish and scotch pad
5. Polished again buy hane and a rag..
I am sure a power buffer will also speed the process using differnt compounds and polishes. You can certainly use a higher rpm . Just be careful with the lower grit compound so you don't create a wave in the finish or a burn spot. The alloy will discolor with too much heat/friction.

blown 87

Thanks man, suck being poor, a 928 will do that to ya.

Fabio421

Yes it will. Just wait until you have three or four to feed.

blown 87

Gonna start on the second one next year sometime, unless I wise up.

chrly924s

I used a regular buffer and some Semi Chrome polish. I also tried some Menzerna Final polish. both worked about the same.

blown 87

Did you just use a regular buffer?

JHowell37

I used a rotary buffer to polish mine. I bought some small 3" compounding pads from the parts store. Doesn't look great, but it gets the job done. Can't remember what compounds I used.

blown 87

I have some different sticks of compound for metal polishing, gonna give it a try tomorrow.

Thanks guys

Fogey1

+1. That's a very practical set-up. Great and very controllable.

Better and safer than using the car's power.

Sailmed

I was building a new exhaust - and left the car on the lift while I headed off to work for 24 hours...
My buddy, who works the shift before me, did the first one. He said he spent an entire day polishing one of mine and it was worth every minute.....
He told me he used a 6" DA first..
started with 220 grit for the coating.
Changed to 400
then to 600
next to 1000
and then kept using the 1000 with metal polish and the blue point 3" detailer...




I spent days polishing out the rest





Every time he would pass by it was........






"that will teach ya to block the stall"

blown 87

I am thinking spray the holes black with cheap paint, then do a half fast polish on the faces, just something that will keep until the tires are done.