Polished my new turbo (Piers HX35/14)

[Steve St.Laurent]

Someone kick me if I think of polishing anything again! Here's what you can make your Holset look like if you have a spare weekend lying around:



#ad




It looks awesome but took WAY longer than I expected (~14 hours). I'm putting it on next weekend to get it broken in before the first DHRA division 3 race.



BTW - that's my computer monitor reflecting on the turbo (blue) .

 

[truckstom]

14 HOURS!!?? If I started that, it would just have one shiny SPOT, It does look good though..... :-laf

 

[bighammer]

Did you polish the inside too?

 

[markdixon]

Let use know what the pdr 35 does for egt im conedering one for my truck. Jst trying to get as much info on my options.

 

[83 crew cab]

looks good steve I can drop the twins off for you next weekend

 

[dezeldog]

FOURTEEN HOURS

Steve you have way too much time on you're hands, either that or you're way more organized than me Looks sweet



Jim

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Once I started I was stuck finishing it otherwise it would have really looked bad . I didn't think it was going to take more than a couple of hours !

 

[csevers]

Polished by hand? No buffer wheel or something like that. Now that is dedication !! It does look nice.



Craig

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

ROTFLMAO - ARE YOU NUTS!? Of course I used a buffing wheel - and a dremel tool. Problem was that the buffing wheel couldn't get down into the recessed area right around the intake or the lettering, and the dremel tool sucked at it! The polishing itself didn't take much time at all but smoothing the surface took forever.

 

[illflem]

Looks good Steve but how long do you figure that shine will last?

Seems like things that get that hot almost instantly rust.

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

I don't know - I'll find out soon I guess. The shine on my valve cover lasts a good year and cleans up real easy with blue magic. Of course it doesn't have the heat that the turbo does.

 

[Blkdawdg]

Live and Learn

Steve:



I remember when you discussed polishing your valve cover and you talked about how long it took you to do that. But I guess that's one good way to bond with your truck and stay out of trouble. If you ever did want to sell your truck, I don't think you could let it go..... you've spent as much time on it as some parents do with their kids.



Eric

 

[Rob Thomas]

Re: Live and Learn

Originally posted by Blkdawdg

Steve:



I don't think you could let it go..... you've spent as much time on it as some parents do with their kids.



Eric

Oh wait, Steve didn't mention that his daughter (she's like 3 years old) actually did the polishing work on the turbo, it couldn't possibly take a grown man 14 hours to do.



Later, Rob

 

[BFC]

I guess we need to start more transmission threads, looks like you have wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy to much time on you hands Looks good tho! Make sure you take a pic of it after the first day at the track... ... ...



Glenn

 

[MMeier]

OOOOHH, how pretty but hey in the middle of winter, in the middle of Michigan, I guess you need something to do, huh Steve?!

 

[kaptn]

Glenn I dont understand the part about starting new transmission threads. Are you trying to trick Steve into polishing his transmission?

 

[The patriot]

Looks great!!

I didnt read all of the posts, so forgive me if I'm repeating something said already.

I've seen VHT high heat paint in clear, that might help it last.

If youre really bored, I can mail you my aluminum steps. They really look ****ty, but I'm not motivated enough (nor do I have the spare time) to do them.

Eric

 

[Fireman]

Steve,



:-laf :-laf :-laf :-laf :-laf

and now you can laugh too next time someone starts talking about polishing things.



I've done a world of it on motorcycles, everytime I say never again, but..... :-laf :-laf :-laf :-laf



It takes a lot of time and dedication, not to mention good equipment to polish out things like that, but the end result is worthwhile. Good job, now every time you open your hood, you'll swell with pride. It's a good feeling.



Fireman

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

I just found the VHT product on the web last night. I was concerned about a clear coat yellowing like on my stock turbo (it went yellow, then gold, and is now more brownish) because of the heat. VHT has a clear coat that is good to 1500 degrees so I think I'll give it a try. I chatted with another user on here last night that has his turbo polished and he said it lasted a couple of months. While that wouldn't be bad because I could easily clean it up with a dremel it would be much nicer if I didn't have to touch it. They do want you to heat cure it in stages so I'm going to put the turbo on and break it in then pull the compressor side housing back off, paint it and use the heat in the turbo to cure it.

 

[Chipstien]

FWIW, I used the VHT clear on my Pro Circuit Pipe when I had my KX-250. Needless to say it didn't last long and actually made a gummed up mess that was a pain to clean.