Joeychgo said:
Maybe Chrome it
I have some experience chroming things.
If you want the best finish possible out of cast aluminum, here's my advice:
1. Sand the crap out of it. You need to have the smoothest, most uniform finish possible on the surface. This means no casting flash should be left by the time your done - at least not where you're going to see it.
2. Have it polished professionally, again, the smoother your finish prior to chrome, the better the result.
3. Find a
really good chrome shop. Although Ford castings are pretty decent (much better, than say, my Trick Flow casting), they have their fair share of pinholes. This things are REALLY noticeable after the chrome goes on. The best way to deal with this is to have them copper coat it several (sometimes lots) of times before the chrome goes on. Chrome doesn't stick to aluminum, so they will need at least one copper coat regardless. If you have a particularly bad pinholes, you can actually weld them with a good TIG and filler rod, then sand the finish down smooth before you send it to polish.
It's all in the prep - the more time you spend on prep, the better the finish will be.
It sure is easy to clean your motor when all you need is Windex though.
Polished is a PIA to keep clean.
Paul.
