Bored: Polishing Heat Shield

[4g63det]

So I got bored looked under my hood and I figure I mayaswell start cleaning up the stock bay so when I mod the car in the spring it will look clean:D .. Here are some pics... Stock vs 150 grit.. 220,400,800 and 00 steel wool to come.. Then Polish.. I am going to paint the raised Mazdaspeed Lettering Black... Should look PRO!

Stock
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l279/4g63det/exhmanicover001good.jpg

Stage 1: 150 grit
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l279/4g63det/exhmanicover011good.jpg

[Spyder01]

NICE! I want to do it too!! but scard it'll damage the sheild... also i thought those shit were rust... so i gave up

[4g63det]

NICE! I want to do it too!! but scard it'll damage the sheild... also i thought those shit were rust... so i gave up

You wont damage it... I am doing it all by hand.. I polished my turbo that I had on my Talon and it turned out awsome. If u just follow a few easy steps it will turn out alot better then you think!

More Pics of The Turbo Polished Here:

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2421532

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/9/web/2421000-2421999/2421532_67_full.jpg

[prot3g3]

^ that looks pretty pro dude....im just gettin a header...no heat shield :p

[Keegz]

I did mine 2 weeks ago.

[4g63det]

Looks good man! Ill prolly have mine done by sunday!

[dead_cactus]

Looks awesome. Good work.

[dead_cactus]

NICE! I want to do it too!! but scard it'll damage the sheild... also i thought those shit were rust... so i gave up

No need to worry about damaging it. Even if you did damage it I'm sure that there are enough members that have there oem heat shields lying around not being used.

[Cocco]

^ really...Ive been looking for a used OEM heatsheild for about a year. If anyone has one they dont want because they put on a header...LMK

[prot3g3]

^ cocco when i get my header in 2 weeks you can have first dibbs

[991.8l]

awesome! this thing just bolts on right?

[4g63det]

Yeah 3 bolts over top of the manifold.. Keeps the heat in from the manifold and turbo and keeps it effecient

[Azi]

awesome! this thing just bolts on right?

hes got a MSP, so unless you get a MSP turbo kit, i dont think we can put it on

[991.8l]

I still have a heatshield I can clean up... checked today 3 very rusty bolts to remove... :(

[4g63det]

I still have a heatshield I can clean up... checked today 3 very rusty bolts to remove... :(

Drive around until the manifold gets nice and hot they will come out like butter... take the 3 bolts out carfully (will be hot) and take the shield off.:D

[e2wJunglist]

Mine is only held on by 2 bolts cuz one rusted right through the hole.
Like cocco i've been looking for one for ages >.< no luck

[Dragon]

can you clean the heatsheild from a P5 the same way?

[dead_cactus]

can you clean the heatsheild from a P5 the same way?

yes

[4g63det]

Im going to finish it up right now...

I will post pics later on!

[4g63det]

Here is a pic of the heat shield after 400 grit.. 800, steel wool and Polishing left to do!

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l279/4g63det/exhmanicover400007good.jpg

[4g63det]

After 800 grit wet sand and fine steel wool...
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l279/4g63det/exhmanicover800005good.jpg

[4g63det]

Final Product!!! After polishing and buffing. It could have turned out better.. But I didnt feel like spending 10 hours on it. Maybe took 2.5 hours all said and done.. Looks alot better then before! Ill post up some pics of it on the car
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l279/4g63det/exhmanicoverpolish007good.jpg

[991.8l]

looks good! Good work.

[dead_cactus]

Looks awesome. Good work.

[sumrandomguy]

u can use that thing as a mirror when ur under the hood! :p

[Bumble G]

how long before it gets all nasty again?

[Kansei]

how long before it gets all nasty again?
Once it's polished, you just have to wipe it down with a wet rag to get it clean again.

It's not like it can un-polish itself hehe

Looks great dude! want wait to wipe mine down in the spring and have that sort of shine again.

[tiffers]

good job!! wanna do mine next ;);)

[4g63det]

haha.. On a P5? Is it bigger then the msp? Drop it off haha Ill polish it up.. Or i can give u the directions its quite straight forward!

good job!! wanna do mine next ;);)

[tiffers]

directions work :D thanks!

[Miki01]

Very nice! What polish do you use?

[Kansei]

haha.. On a P5? Is it bigger then the msp? Drop it off haha Ill polish it up.. Or i can give u the directions its quite straight forward!

yeah it's a bigger heat shield.

I guess if it's removable you could do the heat shield on the pre-cat under the hood too :P

[4g63det]

Very nice! What polish do you use?

Its called blue magic... Bought it at Part Source.
Works Quite Well..

Its Hard to tel in those pics, It looks alot better in person. Maybe when I take some pics of it on the car the pics will turn out better!

[Keegz]

you can buy blue magic at canadian tire too... I think thats where I got mine from.

[sumrandomguy]

Its called blue magic... Bought it at Part Source.
Works Quite Well..

Its Hard to tel in those pics, It looks alot better in person. Maybe when I take some pics of it on the car the pics will turn out better!


looking forward to those pix!

[Tw1tCh]

I polished my valve cover I got a pic somwhere will post when I find it, but I worked up to 2000grit paper, I also used a dremmel with a brass wire brush and then some buffing pads with polishing compound, it turned out pretty sweet.

[DanTheMan]

can this method be used to clean up other stuff in my engine compartment? Id like to make everything nice and shiny :D

[4g63det]

Yeah this will work on any material.. You may want to go to a 1000 grit or even 1500 to get all the small scratches out... only difference is aluminum is alot softer therefore requires less elbow grease!

[Kansei]

yeah you can use it on the aluminum parts of your air conditioning lines, on various brackets and crap under the hood too.

oh and on the valve cover, almost forgot that one

[dead_cactus]

I picked up a spare valve cover recently. I should polish it up.

[razpizdiay]

would there be a point to give the heatshield a high heat clear coat? wouldnt rust get to it no matter if its polished or not?

[MSP-D]

I was thinking of polishing my heat shield, for the final polishing step does is there a major difference between using a "chrome/metal polish" versus a "aluminum/mag polish"?

[Protege2886]

I'm going to go this and polish my valve cover after exams.

[midnitehour]

I was thinking of polishing my heat shield, for the final polishing step does is there a major difference between using a "chrome/metal polish" versus a "aluminum/mag polish"?

The abrassives in a chrome/metal polish are harder than those in aluminum/mag because of the different hardness in material.

aluminum/mag polish probably won't do much for chrome or steel.

don't know about the other way around tho..

[MSP-D]

so what material are the protege heatshield made of?

I just want to make sure i get the right kind of polish.

[Kansei]

so what material are the protege heatshield made of?

I just want to make sure i get the right kind of polish.

magic Mazda steel

my msp heat shield has been polished for two years and hasn't rusted at all. I clean it up in the spring and it's fine.. no special coating on it or anything.

[midnitehour]

magic Mazda steel

my msp heat shield has been polished for two years and hasn't rusted at all. I clean it up in the spring and it's fine.. no special coating on it or anything.

wish they made the rest of the car out of this "magic steel":mad:

[MSP-D]

which polish did you use?

magic Mazda steel

my msp heat shield has been polished for two years and hasn't rusted at all. I clean it up in the spring and it's fine.. no special coating on it or anything.

[LondonZoom]

I recently painted my Valve cover Black. Turned out ok, but I think a nice polished heatsheild could go really well with it.

I know once you put headers on you don't use the heat sheild, but can I safely run my car without a heat sheild for a day or two while I polish it up?

[Kansei]

which polish did you use?

I can't remember that far back. Probably the "7 metal polish" I have in my garage.. maybe fine (1000 grit) sandpaper to start it off? I honestly don't remember though.

still looks good though!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2342/2375867076_1dccb0c422_o.jpg

[Protege2886]

So I got the heat shield off today - after some gentle persuasion (fist) - Turns out a good 1/4 in. around the entire perimeter is rusted completely and most of it has flaked off. So I'm just not going to put it back on.

[Tw1tCh]

http://www.msprotege.com/members/Wojtek/cover.JPG

this was still a work in progress, I'm gonna finish it up later this spring when I have some time and clean up the rest of the bay but this should give you an idea of what to look forward too with a polished valve cover.

[Protege2886]

Did you just use a palm sander for that ? I took my steel brush dremel bit to the MAZDA part of the valve cover and.....now I need a new steel brush bit :P

[Tw1tCh]

I used brass brush bits for the dremmel went through about 3 or 4, steel is a bit too coarse, then got some 300, 600, 800, 1000, 2000 grit sadpaper till I got a nice smooth surface and for the shine i used some polishing wax i think it was 7, not sure, and used a couple buffing bits for the dremmel again. but I still need to go over mine to remove a couple scratches I ignored last time.

[imo000]

When you are finished with it put a few layers of high heat clear on it. It will save you from always polishing the cover

[Tw1tCh]

^^^ will keep that in mind thanks.

[Andre Diego]

Good job man! Looks 10X better

[beastmoore]

If you really want to go crazy on polishing... valve covers etc., read this article. It is very humorous but informative. If you follow these steps, your parts will look like chrome. http://forum.caswellplating.com/metal-polishing-questions/1755-motorcycle-polishing-101-class-session.html

As far as clearcoating or clear powder coating, I think most of them turn yellow after awhile. A good regular recoat of Mother's wax will keep everything looking good

[vtec-this]

if anyone wants a speed heat shield to polish I have one for sale.

/salesman routine