Polish Aluminum Side Covers
This project is not expensive but be warned you might get dirty. This is not rocket science either but you will need to have some extra time on your hands as this takes patients. Total one time cost for tools is about $100 USA dollars if not less depending how elaborate of name brand of a tools you buy. This method can be used on all aluminum not just your engine covers.
This is about the most expensive tool of the project. You should use this instead of a belt sander as you have more control and a larger variety of sand papers to use. You can buy this type of sander from Home Depot for $30-50 depending on the brand. I like Dewalt as it is industrial. You can use this tool for a lot more than this project so this is a very good buy.
I got this grinder from Home Depot for $30 which it came with a light that shines over the project and safety guards which I removed all but the light. This unit is a 6" which is what the polishing pads come in. The pad is about $8.
You should buy a set of safety goggles and a set of leather gloves total cost is about $10 for both. The white stick is the polishing compound. You can get this at your local hardware store or Home Depot. They sell a kit with several different types for different texture metals. This is a minimal cost of a few dollars.
Next you should buy some Dry/Wet sandpaper of grits ranging from 220 to 1000. The 220 is for sanding out all the scratches from those embarrassing tip over or crashes of the previous owner :)
This is the before picture of one of my side covers. This was badly corroded and had several scratches which were not too deep. I used 220 grit to get the scratches out with the palm sander and no water. Then I got a warm bucket of water for my delicate skin of course and sanded the peace with 600 grit with water by hand. The 600 grit is used to take out the fine scratches from the 220 sandpaper. If your scratches are not that bad you can use a 320 or 400 depending on the severity of damage to the cover. Remember to sand the item in one direction "do not" make circles!
This is what the unit looks like after using 600 grit. The item will almost look polished. The fine scratches you made with the 220 or 320 grit paper will be gone (about 98%). You can then use 800 or 1000 grit to remove any of the really fine scratches that you might have missed. I took the grinder and applied the polishing compound to the cover and then stuck it in the sun to make sure I didn't have any of the really fine scratches that didn't show up earlier. If you do see some hit it with the 1000 grit again. Then use the grinder to polish the item. You can see in this step reflections off the cover but not crystal clear just yet.
Now you think you are almost done but your not. The item looks shinny but just doesn't quite have that chrome look. If you are happy with this finish you can stop but for the guy who did all this work and wants to go all the way the next step is fairly easy. You will need a buffer which you can get a Pepboys for about $60 and the terry cloth covers. Use this item on the cover to get that glassy chrome look. Use the buffer as much as needed for desired result.
Picture coming soon!!! I didn't get this far.