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Author Topic: Thermostat housing cap  (Read 14237 times)

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GTRS Fiero

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Thermostat housing cap
« on: November 20, 2017, 07:13:09 pm »
This is the cap from TFS.  What do you think?

Fierofool

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Re: Thermostat housing cap
« Reply #1 on: November 20, 2017, 07:43:58 pm »
I think it looks great.
There are three kinds of men:

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2.    The few who learn by observation.
3.    The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and find out for themselves.    Will Rogers

GTRS Fiero

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Re: Thermostat housing cap
« Reply #2 on: November 20, 2017, 07:53:06 pm »
Well, it would look great, but that isn't a reflection, or an illusion.  That darker part on the bottom third is something with the polish.  I'm not sure what happened, but I'd think the polish should be consistent.  I'm hoping they'll fix this.

My opinion is that a dress-up cover should not contain blemishes.

Fierofool

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Re: Thermostat housing cap
« Reply #3 on: November 20, 2017, 08:19:49 pm »
Agreed.  I did think it was a light reflection.
There are three kinds of men:

1.    The ones that learn by reading.
2.    The few who learn by observation.
3.    The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and find out for themselves.    Will Rogers

GTRS Fiero

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Re: Thermostat housing cap
« Reply #4 on: November 21, 2017, 09:51:30 pm »
Well, here is the image on their site:


And the text:
Quote
Dress up your engine compartment with our new billet aluminum accessory covers. All of these pieces have a milled aluminum finish. They look great as is or could easily be polished to a chrome like finish with a little elbow grease. This Thermostat Housing Cap Cover installs over your existing housing cap and is secured with a set screw. These new pieces provide a quick and easy way to improve your underhood appearance for car shows or cruise nights.

Their response to my query:
Quote
No, the caps are CNC machined, not polished. The picture on our web site is very similar to your picture. If we were to polish them here, it would add a significant cost to the part, which most customers would rather handle themselves. A little polish will even up that finish quite nicely. Please let us know if you have any other questions or concerns.

True enough, it says it isn't polished, and the image does reflect that, once you know what you're seeing.  I have the MAP cover, and the EGR cover, which state the same thing as regards to polish, and those are both acceptable in that regard, although they could be better; they are consistent.

I guess it's time to dig out the polish, and the clear-coat.

Fierofool

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Re: Thermostat housing cap
« Reply #5 on: November 21, 2017, 10:08:13 pm »
A cloth buffing wheel for the drill and a rouge stick will probably do the trick, then. 
There are three kinds of men:

1.    The ones that learn by reading.
2.    The few who learn by observation.
3.    The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and find out for themselves.    Will Rogers

GTRS Fiero

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Re: Thermostat housing cap
« Reply #6 on: November 24, 2017, 07:33:45 pm »
Well, I decided to try some polishing.  I started with the EGR dress-up cover.  I forgot to take pics before I started, but took a few after I'd started polishing one side.



After I finished, it looked like this:


Then I tried the thermostat dress-up cover.  Since I've already posted a before pic, here are a few after pics.


These were all done by hand, with a cloth.  The process gave my hands a chim-chiminey appearance.  I'm sure I'll have to polish these again and then clearcoat.  There are possibilities for these dress-up covers, with polishing.

Fierofool

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Re: Thermostat housing cap
« Reply #7 on: November 24, 2017, 07:47:45 pm »
Did they actually turn black?  What kind of polish did you use?
There are three kinds of men:

1.    The ones that learn by reading.
2.    The few who learn by observation.
3.    The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and find out for themselves.    Will Rogers

GTRS Fiero

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Re: Thermostat housing cap
« Reply #8 on: November 24, 2017, 07:50:22 pm »
My hands and the cloth turned very black.  I used Mothers Mag and Aluminum polish.

Fierofool

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Re: Thermostat housing cap
« Reply #9 on: November 24, 2017, 08:08:38 pm »
I have a rouge stick and a cloth wheel about 4 or 5 inches diameter that goes into my power drill.  I've used it to buff Fiero wheels.  It will turn the aluminum black, but after hand-rubbing, the black rubs off.  A motorcycle shop might be a good place to find some clearcoat for aluminum since the engine cases and covers are made of aluminum.  Every motorcycle I've owned had a clearcoat on the cases and covers.  When I had one restored, they polished all the case covers and clear coated them.  Maybe even a wheel refinishing service. 

Found this:

http://www.eastwood.com/ew-diamond-clear-gloss-for-bare-metal-quart.html?mrkgcl=764&mrkgadid={_mrkgadid}&rkg_id=h-8999e5ceae4bafcf9ac60f344d64e93d_t-1511571927&SRCCODE=PLA00040&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=bing&creative=10262021206&device=c&matchtype=e

http://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-diamond-clear-gloss-aerosol.html?mrkgcl=764&mrkgadid={_mrkgadid}&rkg_id=h-8999e5ceae4bafcf9ac60f344d64e93d_t-1511572053&SRCCODE=PLA00040&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=bing&creative=10262021206&device=c&matchtype=e
There are three kinds of men:

1.    The ones that learn by reading.
2.    The few who learn by observation.
3.    The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and find out for themselves.    Will Rogers

GTRS Fiero

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Re: Thermostat housing cap
« Reply #10 on: November 24, 2017, 08:49:03 pm »
Hmmm.  I can't find it online right now, but I'd seen some sort of clear coat for aluminum a bit ago, but don't have experience with any.  I'd purchased this polish about 2 years ago, but I got nowhere on the wheels.  I was trying to polish the silver portion of the wheels.

My, how things have changed, since then.

I have a pad for my drill that was for polishing the headlight lenses.  I guess I could try that.