Polishing the turbo?

[Dave]

Well as most of you know the long wheelbase mini van is going to shiny, shiny. So I want some blang blang on the most important part... the turbo!

Basically I just want to shine up the compressor housing, anybody have any tips on how to polish something?

Thanks,
-Bryan

[GLHNSLHT2]

tip #1, buy a MP plus or turbonetics turbo. They come polished :)

[Dave]

tip #1, buy a MP plus or turbonetics turbo. They come polished :)

This is TM, c'mon now, notoriously known for not having $$$$. :thumb:

[WVRampage]

Sand it smooth with 400 grit wet paper then go to 600 or 800 and polish it with mothers mag wheel polish it will look real good. If you need u can use like 180 to get teh casting marks off then go to the finer paper. Take your time and it will look professonal.

[Tony Hanna]

If you can't afford a turbo that has a polished compressor housing and don't have the time to do it yourself, here's an in-between option. http://www.gpopshop.com/polish.html
At $65 it seems a little pricey to me, but I guess if you figure the time it would take to do a nice job by hand then it doesn't seem so bad.

[John B]

To each his own and please don't take this as criticism, but as yet no one has ever jacked up my Shadow and crawled under it to see if my compressor housing is shiny or not. Can't hurt though!:)

[turbovanman²]

Personally Dave, don't waste your time. You can barely see it without the air tube, and with it on, not a peep.

[Moparbishi]

i did it for the persoanl thing. i started with a wire wheel from a bench grinder. worked real well then a real fine sand papper then mothers polish. looked pretty decent.

[TrrboJeep]

Sand it smooth with 400 grit wet paper then go to 600 or 800 and polish it with mothers mag wheel polish it will look real good. If you need u can use like 180 to get teh casting marks off then go to the finer paper. Take your time and it will look professonal.
I used this method... my hands were sore the next day! lol The results were pretty nice, (see below) but unlike TDs, the turbo is the first thing you see when you lift my hood. If it was located similarly to a TD, I probably wouldn't have bothered, as turbovanman said.

I removed the step in the O.D. of the housing as well as any and all identification markings on the housing (Garrett, .60A/R) just so no one would know what I was running. It looks like a custom piece now. :eyebrows:

\/\/\/ Before & after \/\/\/

[cordes]

Personally Dave, don't waste your time. You can barely see it without the air tube, and with it on, not a peep.

+1

I know the engine bay of the omni is rather close quarters, but you can hardly see the To4E housing back there with all the IC piping, and air filter in the way.

[Mario]

Think you might have the before and after pictures swapped there Joel. ;)

[The Pope]

To each his own and please don't take this as criticism, but as yet no one has ever jacked up my Shadow and crawled under it to see if my compressor housing is shiny or not. Can't hurt though!:)

I feel the same way. But I am putting a Holset on my hybrid Rampage, big polished Holset would be very pretty :eyebrows:

[2.216VTurbo]

Spend $189. on a Dremel 1/5HP flex shaft die grinder and do your work INSIDE the compressor housing... Never mind the outside. Lots of places for improvement in there and the flex shaft with a good collection of carbide bits and emory scrolls will become your favorite toll in the garage. I've worn out two of them but it took 15+ years and a zillion heads/manifolds etc.

[Dave]

Spend $189. on a Dremel 1/5HP flex shaft die grinder and do your work INSIDE the compressor housing... Never mind the outside. Lots of places for improvement in there and the flex shaft with a good collection of carbide bits and emory scrolls will become your favorite toll in the garage. I've worn out two of them but it took 15+ years and a zillion heads/manifolds etc.

Nah I don't want to disrupt anything inside there... don't want to cause any turbulence.. I'm rather inexperienced.

And EVERYTHING is getting touched up on this van, so I wont leave the turbo ugly, I remember working on Christian Grest's shadow, he has a Turbonetic's T3/T4 turbo on his and it comes polished, and I remember you could see it back there.

So I'm bored, I have no life, so I may as well...

Here's what I got to show for 2 hours of my life that I wasted:

[cordes]

Nah I don't want to disrupt anything inside there... don't want to cause any turbulence.. I'm rather inexperienced.

And EVERYTHING is getting touched up on this van, so I wont leave the turbo ugly, I remember working on Christian Grest's shadow, he has a Turbonetic's T3/T4 turbo on his and it comes polished, and I remember you could see it back there.

So I'm bored, I have no life, so I may as well...

Here's what I got to show for 2 hours of my life that I wasted:

Looks pretty good. I agree about not messing with the inside of the compressor housing too.

[The S is Silent]

Dave,

How much is a polished compressor housing worth to you? If you don't want to do all the work to manually polish it, I have a turbonetics polished T04E housing that I may be willing to part with.

Let me know what you think...nothing else is going to look immaculate in mine, and I have no use for bling burried in the back of my engine bay.

Matt

[Dave]

Dave,

How much is a polished compressor housing worth to you? If you don't want to do all the work to manually polish it, I have a turbonetics polished T04E housing that I may be willing to part with.

Let me know what you think...nothing else is going to look immaculate in mine, and I have no use for bling burried in the back of my engine bay.

Matt

Will it bolt to my Garrett's center housing?? What are the specs on it? Will I need a bigger wheel? I could always use some more ooomph with my blang! :thumb:

[The S is Silent]

What turbo are you using? Stock T3? If you are using a T3/T4 hybrid, then I don't see why it wouldn't bolt up...but I'm not sure.

[Mario]

What turbo are you using? Stock T3? If you are using a T3/T4 hybrid, then I don't see why it wouldn't bolt up...but I'm not sure.

If he is using a T04E Cover as you are, then the only way it'd fit is if he has the same size compressor wheel, or if he has a larger one than yours, in which case he'd have to ge the center of the Compressor Cover machined out.

[The S is Silent]

I have a T04E 50 trim compressor...and I'm pretty sure the spare T4 compressor housing my buddy pulled out of his garage is also a T04E 50 trim.

Of course I don't know how much a polished compressor housing is worth...

[cordes]

I have a T04E 50 trim compressor...and I'm pretty sure the spare T4 compressor housing my buddy pulled out of his garage is also a T04E 50 trim.

Of course I don't know how much a polished compressor housing is worth...


You can go to the turboneticsinc.com website to view the current price list.

Mario is correct. If you have X trim compressor wheel the compressor cover must me machined to match that wheel. In Dave's case, you would also need to replace the backing plate since you will be going to a T4 cover from the T3 cover. It could be done if one were so inclined though.

[Mario]

You could just take your current compressor to a shop and have it professionally polished. You could also have it poweder coated with a coating that looks similar to chrome or you can just polish it yourself simply by slowly going to finer grits until it's polished to the shine you desire.

Quite a long thread for someone just looking for a shiny turbo!!! ;)

[John B]

Nah I don't want to disrupt anything inside there... don't want to cause any turbulence.. I'm rather inexperienced.

And EVERYTHING is getting touched up on this van, so I wont leave the turbo ugly, I remember working on Christian Grest's shadow, he has a Turbonetic's T3/T4 turbo on his and it comes polished, and I remember you could see it back there.

So I'm bored, I have no life, so I may as well...

Here's what I got to show for 2 hours of my life that I wasted:
Why not have it 24k gold plated after it's polished? That's BLING!!

[Dave]

Um, well I just have a '89 Garrett... so I dont think it'll work. :D

[SpoolinGLH]

Why not have it 24k gold plated after it's polished? That's BLING!!


24k gold plated with diamonds going around it THATS BLING! :eyebrows:

[Dave]

24k gold plated with diamonds going around it THATS BLING! :eyebrows:

I'd wear that shiiiit 'roun my neck!

[SpoolinGLH]

I'd wear that shiiiit 'roun my neck!



LOL :amen:

[BIG PSI]

LOL :amen:

Kyle,

That is one nice looking OMNI. Do you have any under the hood shots you can post ??

Chuck

[cordes]

I'd wear that shiiiit 'roun my neck!

Who has the pic of the comp cover necklas(sp) from one of the SDAC events?

[Mario]

http://hometown.aol.com/russjerome/images/try5.jpg
Russ Jerome.

[cordes]

http://hometown.aol.com/russjerome/images/try5.jpg
Russ Jerome.


That is awesome. Thanks Mario. I thought that was Russ, but it has been a while since I saw the pic.:lol:

[Dave]

haha only Russ. wow

[The S is Silent]

ha ha...I've seen that pictures a few times, and never once have I noticed the compressor housing around his neck. That is classic.

[SpoolinGLH]

Kyle,

That is one nice looking OMNI. Do you have any under the hood shots you can post ??

Chuck


Chuck,

Thanks for the compliment....I don't have any under hood shots at the moment because theres no engine in it:)