Hot Rods Aluminum polishing in San Diego

Anybody know of a guy who does aluminum polishing in the San Diego area. There are some shops but man are they expensive. Hopefully someone does it on the side. I got some 8ba edelbrock heads and intake I need a shine job on. Thanks.

 

Age 9, I asked my Dad about building a model airplane from plans...(all those tiny stringers, across bulkheads that seemed to 'levitate', no common baseline...)
His answer: "You can't learn any younger."

Check out U-tube. Just some planning, and various grits of sandpaper.
I cheap belt sander (Harbor Freight, the narrow belt model, under $60?) is very useful, but the greater work can be done by hand, with the abrasive belt(s) on a hard rubber or series of wooden blocks.
Takes an inordinate amount of time, but the self accomplishment is something better than you can buy.
Err...Thanks, Pop. (you should have seen that airplane!)

 

I agree with Mike 100%. The first thing that popped into my head when I read your first sentence was "you do". The process is pretty much just labor. The only downside, is that you will never have anything aluminum that you don't eventually polish

 

TJ

 

I hear you guys. The cheapest way is to always do it yourself. I figured that someone would say something along those lines. However, time is money and I don't have much time these days with work and a house remodel. Time is a factor and I'm trying to get the flathead in the A sooner rather then latter.
TJ is good... If you know where to go. It's a big city. Kinda like saying go to LA for your polishing. Where in TJ??!!

 

I used San Marcos Polishing for my intake. Done in three days and was cheaper than anywhere else.

 

San Marcos polishing. Ok I will check them out. Thanks.

 

I'm curious as to what's 'expensive'.
My limited experience is that the amateur makes two common mistakes:
Too aggressive in the initial cut causing misshapen parts. Or, too fine a grit to avoid the first. This really causes a lot of waste and makes the job take WAY too long.
Either practice on something that you can afford to mess up or start with hand work. Power tools will get you in trouble quickly.
That being said, I send my polishing work out. I can do something that I do better while the polishing is being done. IMHO my guy works too cheap. It's a nasty, dirty job and he usually ends up spending more time than he estimates.


Send me a PM for more info.

 

I paid $250 for a polish job on these backing plates at least 10 years ago.

 

It's easy to do but time consuming. Last time I had work done were some finned valve covers. It was 250 and that wasn't even inside the fins.