nitroboie
07-08-2009, 01:18 PM
This is a short how-to on how to polish a metal oil cap. It's really simple to do, and is a great way to add "bling" under the hood of your car.
Materials Needed:
Metal Oil Cap
Degreaser/Cleaner
Phillips Screwdriver
Various Grades of Wet/Dry Sandpaper (stay above 800)
Water
Oil Cap Gasket
Metal Polish (optional)
Gloves (optional)
Here's the cap I started off with, pulled straight from the junkyard. As you can see, it's very dirty and tarnished.
http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/7889/img0277.gif
http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/6736/img0278.gif
Step 1: Remove the gasket, the three screws, and separate the two parts of the cap to prepare for cleaning.
http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/4722/img0280.gif
Step 2: Clean it up. I used Gunk followed by Simple Green. This step is really more for the bottom piece of the cap. You don't want that crud falling in your engine when you're finished.
http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/8240/img0281.gif
This is after the cleaning, notice how much better the bottom piece looks.
http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/4806/img0282.gif
Step 3: Wet your sandpaper and begin the sanding process. Use strokes, not circles and make sure to keep everything wet. You're supposed to let the sandpaper soak in water before hand... but in my experience, it just makes the paper hard to hold on to. I use a spray bottle filled with water. This is the messy part, you might want to use gloves (the stuff on the paper towels will get on your hands). Rinse between grits and repeat increasing in grit until the desired finish is achieved.
Here's a picture of a section completed using 1500 grit.
http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/34/img0283.gif
Closer look:
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/1734/img0285.gif
Here's the full cap after the first pass of 1500 grit.
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/9027/img0292.gif
I wasn't happy with the spotting, so I moved DOWN to 200 grit. You aren't supposed to go backwards in grit... but as long as you have higher grit to follow up behind it, you'll be ok. A lot of sanding marks, but the spots are gone!
http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/589/img0294.gif
I followed up with another pass of 1500, and its much better.
http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/1685/img0295.gif
And here's what it looks like after the final pass of 2000 grit. You can still see it's not perfect around the edges but it looks a whole lot better than what it started out as.
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/5493/img0296.gif
http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/6598/img0297.gif
Step 4 (Optional): Once you've reached the finish you've desired, apply some metal polish to it. The polish will protect the metal.
Step 5: Put everything back together, install a new gasket and enjoy your shiny oil cap.
The final grit choice will affect your results. It's less work to move up in equal stages (1000/1500/2000) rather than skipping around (800/1000/2000). So, regardless if you sand with 1500 or 1000 before 2000, it will look the same, but you'll spend more time at the 2000 stage if you go with the 1000 instead of 1500.
If you're really bored, you could do the same process to the intake manifold, the chrome on the window trim, and moldings.
Materials Needed:
Metal Oil Cap
Degreaser/Cleaner
Phillips Screwdriver
Various Grades of Wet/Dry Sandpaper (stay above 800)
Water
Oil Cap Gasket
Metal Polish (optional)
Gloves (optional)
Here's the cap I started off with, pulled straight from the junkyard. As you can see, it's very dirty and tarnished.
http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/7889/img0277.gif
http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/6736/img0278.gif
Step 1: Remove the gasket, the three screws, and separate the two parts of the cap to prepare for cleaning.
http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/4722/img0280.gif
Step 2: Clean it up. I used Gunk followed by Simple Green. This step is really more for the bottom piece of the cap. You don't want that crud falling in your engine when you're finished.
http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/8240/img0281.gif
This is after the cleaning, notice how much better the bottom piece looks.
http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/4806/img0282.gif
Step 3: Wet your sandpaper and begin the sanding process. Use strokes, not circles and make sure to keep everything wet. You're supposed to let the sandpaper soak in water before hand... but in my experience, it just makes the paper hard to hold on to. I use a spray bottle filled with water. This is the messy part, you might want to use gloves (the stuff on the paper towels will get on your hands). Rinse between grits and repeat increasing in grit until the desired finish is achieved.
Here's a picture of a section completed using 1500 grit.
http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/34/img0283.gif
Closer look:
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/1734/img0285.gif
Here's the full cap after the first pass of 1500 grit.
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/9027/img0292.gif
I wasn't happy with the spotting, so I moved DOWN to 200 grit. You aren't supposed to go backwards in grit... but as long as you have higher grit to follow up behind it, you'll be ok. A lot of sanding marks, but the spots are gone!
http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/589/img0294.gif
I followed up with another pass of 1500, and its much better.
http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/1685/img0295.gif
And here's what it looks like after the final pass of 2000 grit. You can still see it's not perfect around the edges but it looks a whole lot better than what it started out as.
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/5493/img0296.gif
http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/6598/img0297.gif
Step 4 (Optional): Once you've reached the finish you've desired, apply some metal polish to it. The polish will protect the metal.
Step 5: Put everything back together, install a new gasket and enjoy your shiny oil cap.
The final grit choice will affect your results. It's less work to move up in equal stages (1000/1500/2000) rather than skipping around (800/1000/2000). So, regardless if you sand with 1500 or 1000 before 2000, it will look the same, but you'll spend more time at the 2000 stage if you go with the 1000 instead of 1500.
If you're really bored, you could do the same process to the intake manifold, the chrome on the window trim, and moldings.