Clear Coating used Polished Edelbrock Intake Manifold to Prevent Tarnish? Advice?

I have a polished Intake, bellhousing, valve covers and many other polished do-dads under my hood.There is no easy way yo keep them shining. I have tryed on one manifold to have it polished then had it clear power coated. However if gas gets on it and not removed asap it will stain it yellow. When this happens you're finished, It can't be buffed out. My advise is get some Mothers Alum polish and go to it. You can also chrome plate alum but with heat expantion and retraction it's only good for a several years before it starts to flake off. Good luck...

Ron.
This past winter I polished the ZF, then tried to use the POR-15 2 part clear coat. This did not work well as it swelled and fish eyed over perfect surfaces that had survived pnuematic sanding from 200 to 600 grit and using their degreaser and metal prep. IN the end I called the folks at Zoops. And that is what I am now using. I applied 2 coats. And now when I detail the engine bay I use just plan water and a sponge to clean the ZF. The Zoop seal still has the ZF shining. But the Zoop seal does nothing to protect the ZF from scratches, hence the sponge bathing. So far about 3 months in service and no complaints. You can also re-apply the Zoop seal in the future. Not bad. .................Regards...Doug.H

Remember, a polished surface may run a little hotter than an as-cast but clean surface, due to the sizeable reduction in surface area when polished. Polishe looks nice, but so does a grit-blated surface which may be a little more efficient. Blasted surfaces show oil & grease stains, but a perioding shot of Gunk! aerosol spray cleans them nicely, without buffing And all Edelbrock and other aftermarket intakes are cast aluminum..

Wow thanks Ron I was just about to order the pro 15 for clear coating, I just got back my ZF, put a lot of money into it. I will go with Zoops product. I just got my manifold back from Jet-Hot I used their sterling coating it looks real nice and it will be real easy to clean. Well, I will be picking up 5263 Saturday and will be putting her back together. Hope to get the motor back soon, and I will be back on the road. Cant wait!! Ron Egidio(5263)

Hey Regvet AKA Ron Egidio.
The Zoop that I used. Yes it appears to be working really well. I would offer a couple of suggestions. Call the Zoops customer service line and ask every question that is on your mind, I certainly did, and they were very happy to talk to me. Second, the instructions will tell you that part of the prep is to use their cleaner/prep and get the surface "squeaky" clean. I found the mixture they recommend for their metal cleaner, was not very effective. So I used Palmolive dish washing soap and a sponge and DISTILLED water for many scrub and rinse cycles. I repeated this until I got the ZF to the point that it actually squeaked under my fingers. And then I cleaned 2 more times using the ZOOP supplied cleaner. And always rinsed with Distilled water. the water from your Tap will really mess up your work and piss U off. Also know that the Zoop kit supplies way more sealer that I could use on a ZF. So I took out the measuring cup, did a little math and mixed small batches. What I mixed up but did not use in a session, I put into the refigerator over night. The next day I took it out for an hour to get it up to room temp and used it. In the end I have enough un-mixed Zoop to do many many more recoats of the ZF which will hopefully happen this coming winter. And by the by, that really nice supper expensive finish that you get after it's all Zooped up, it is NOT scratch resistant at all. so wash that shiny ZF with loving care.

As a side note the guys from POR-15 are located in the town next to me. They have a guy who I think is Mike, I see him at the local cruise nights, he has a pretty cool 63 ford something or other, he has polished metal wheels that are sealed with Por-15's 2 part clear sealer and his wheel's look damm good. I did follow his personal directions to me, but got terrible results. I like the Zoops shine, but while I was sanding off my failed Por-15 attempt I realized that the Por-15 WOULD protect the surface from scratchs. Ok, thats 10 cent worth....good luck...Doug.H