polishing intake manifold and "Big Log"

["Paul Irvine" <pi@xxxxxxx>]

It was about 3 or 19 weeks ago. I was looking at the intake manifold for the
Spider (still not assembled). I was wondering how it would look if it was
polished. I knew it would look awesome so I took a bit of sandpaper to the
flatland area between the throttle and the thermostat. Well that was the
start of it anyway. Once I had begun - as the Robert Plant song "Big Log"
goes - "There is no turning back".

You've probably seen those pictures in the Eastwood catalogs of the Chevy
intake manifold that is half polished - showing a pristine cone shaped felt
buffing wheel connected to a high speed pneumatic grinder. How easy it
looks. Well I'm here to tell you that the end results are absolutely
stunning - but it doesn't happen quite like that. The tools are essential,
and they work, but after the tools are finished there is a whole lot - a
hell of a lot - of work left to be done. Those little felt buffing wheels in
the picture - they are the last step in a process that will nearly wear your
fingers to the bone.

The Alfa manifold is especially difficult due to the complex shape. We
polished the cam cover the last time we rebuilt this motor but that is
nowhere near the challenge of this.

Of course - I have taken pictures and I'll include them in my website. After
seeing them I'm sure all of you will immediately want to start polishing
your manifolds. Just set aside 3 or 4 weeks of vacation to do so!

Paul Irvine  - Antioch CA
72 Spider - 79 Sprint Veloce - 82 GTV6
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Project Alfa - http://www.crl.com/~pi/project
E-Mail - mailto:pi@domain.elided

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