So can Zigga shine??

[Jack Valiant]

Well those of you will be aware that Zigga (Mark) is a bit of a fanatic when it comes to the shiny bits under the bonnet!

Well over a coffee I threw down the gauntlet and challenged him to my spare and rather lumpy casting V8 plenum.

Anyway here is the results from him and I am sure that you will agree its a bloody good job done! Well done Zig and I am sure you will be along in a bit with the details of the job and a few more piccy's if you have any!

Cheers matey just got to fit it over the Christmas break

<< The picture loader on the site does not seem to be working so will add the pics in a bit >>

Chris

Edited by Jack Valiant on Monday 17th December 19:07

[Tasmin200]

I take it we wont be hearing from him for a wee while then? He'll need to wait until his fingers grow back!

[mrzigazaga]

Thanks chris..It did come out ok..I was a bit gutted that the final polishing mop was too soft for the soap..Autosol is still a bt too abrasive..I will do a search on the polishing shop site to look at finishing compounds...Here are the pics i took..

BEFORE:

AFTER:


Some in betweenies:

This was after the initial de-grease and flattening of the cast marks and then fine wet n dry and a first mop..


Second...

Final polish:

Then masked it for the etching primer..




Then on with the tommy sauce!!



I then hand painted the red edges again to clean them up...Cleaned up the throttle linkage and painted the brackets..



Overall not too bad for my first attempt..I still think it needs a final..final polish as i know i can get rid of thoise really fine marks that the autosol left..Im glad you like it mate..Cheers..Ziga

[MarkS1966]

Having seen this "in the flesh" I can confirm that the finish is great
Even better than the pics show, with it being well polished on all surfaces, even those that won't be visible when it's fitted in place.

Well done Zig

[ElvisWedgely]

That really is a fine job. Looks like a lot of elbow grease has gone into that. Does it not need a coat of clear lacquer to stop the alloy tarnishing again? Sort of protect it from the elements.

Tony. TCB.

[mrzigazaga]

ElvisWedgely said:

That really is a fine job. Looks like a lot of elbow grease has gone into that. Does it not need a coat of clear lacquer to stop the alloy tarnishing again? Sort of protect it from the elements.

Tony. TCB.

Hi Tony..You can use lacquer but it's better if you dont as the lacquer will probably yellow and need re-applying..Autosol is ok for removing oxidisation..lightly buff it now and then it will stay nice..Cheers ..Ziga

PS:Nearly forgot..I used high temperature paint on the plenum and brackets...The underside of the plenum was degreased and cleaned as was the intake chamber and throttle plate.

Edited by mrzigazaga on Monday 17th December 23:15

[tweety]

Looks really good, I've got some polished rocker covers to fit to mine and want to polish the plenum to match, can I ask exactly what you used? Already got the autosol and some sheets of wet'n'dry...

Cheers, Al.

[Wedg1e]

Not too shabby... but a bit of advice if I may Mark? Get yourself a die grinder (or more sensibly, a Dremel with flexi shaft) and some carbide burrs, that way you can de-seam the castings as well - and maybe even do a spot of engraving?





OK, so the TVR logo was freehand and just for fun.... ... but the plenum top has had all the mould lines and casting flash taken off. I also milled off the ribbed area toward the front of the casting to make space for a '400' badge.

Oh, you can also do porting work...

[mrzigazaga]

Hi Mate..I had to use some fairly abrasive paper and small grinding wheels on a dremmel to remove the initial cast markings..I think it was a good 0.5mm layer of alloy that needed smoothing..
Initial first stage was aluminium oxide paper grade 60-80 and small some grinding wheels of the same grade..Then i used the first stage polishing mop with the brown soap bar..Second was the use of 120 grade wet and dry with the second stage polishing mop and the blue soap bar and then used a small amount of 1200 wet and the final polishing mop but used autosol instead of the light green soap bar for high finish which is ok but not ideal..Autosol is an abrasive compound and can be worked in with cigarette type card paper to a mirror finish but its hard graft on something like a plenum...The buffing wheel finish is ok but i know i can get it mirror..Polishing is a series of ultimately fine scratches normally travelling in one direction...Hope this helped...Ziga

[mrzigazaga]

Wedg1e said:

Not too shabby... but a bit of advice if I may Mark? Get yourself a die grinder (or more sensibly, a Dremel with flexi shaft) and some carbide burrs, that way you can de-seam the castings as well - and maybe even do a spot of engraving?

Thanks for the advice ian..I do have a flexi head for the dremel but only had the 50 grade wheels but i will look into the carbide burrs as that plenum looks much better with the seams off..Cheers...Ziga

Edited by mrzigazaga on Tuesday 18th December 00:09

[Wedg1e]

mrzigazaga said:

Thanks for the advice ian..I do have a flexi head for the dremel but only had the 50 grade wheels but i will look into the carbide burrs as that plenum looks much better with the seams off..Cheers...Ziga

I've got a large selection courtesy of a customer at work, can let you have a few freebies

What size shank can your flexi chuck or collets accept? I'd be surprised if it was much more than 3.2mm...

[RCK974X]

Awesome Job zig, Makes me want to do my airbox too !

Did you use just a drill and polishing mops (and compounds) ?

Is there any special tricks ?

[mrzigazaga]

Wedg1e said:

I've got a large selection courtesy of a customer at work, can let you have a few freebies

What size shank can your flexi chuck or collets accept? I'd be surprised if it was much more than 3.2mm

Spot on mate..The shank on the bits i used are about 3mm..But they are more likely what you said..A beer will be yours the next time we meet..Cheers..Ziga

RCK974X said:

Awesome Job zig, Makes me want to do my airbox too !

Did you use just a drill and polishing mops (and compounds) ?

Is there any special tricks ?

Hi Mate...I used some 60 grade aluminium oxide sanding disc's on an electric drill first to remove as much of the pitting as possible..Then proceeded with hand rubbing with some 80 grade, Then continued on with the polishing mops and appropriate soaps with some lighter grade in between mops..The little fiddly bits were done with polishing bits on a dremel..The main part is getting the casting out of the metal to start with..I have a spare 280 plenum which i will do at some point..Here was the one i bought that was already flattened off..I polished it and painted the lines in and ground off the ford emblem to fit a plate for the TVR badge..I did the majority with a hand held electric drill but a bench grinder/polisher would of been the kiddie..

BEFORE:


AFTER:

[carob]

You have done a gret job there Zig. I like the shiney bits, not to everyones liking but you can't please everyone.

Rob

[V8 GRF]

This stuff is...... well what it says on the tin....

http://www.briliant.biz/

Much finer than Autosol (which I only use on really corroded stuff now) I got mine from Mike at 'The polishing Company'

[mrzigazaga]

Thanks for the info mate..Saved it to me favs..Cheers..Ziga

[RichChef]

Thats a lot of good effort there Zig!

looks like i have something to add to my list of things to do this winter (plus i have a spare plenum so don't need to dismantle things)

Rich

[Campbell]

Crackin job Zig you are geting rather good at this bling stuff, i like the face you can clean up the engine bay with hard work and at small cost with out adding any thing that wasnt in there any way..

Good work Zig

Cambelt