How do I polish the turbo?

[grinders_18]

I'm going to be removing the turbocharger soon, and while it's out I want to polish the housing. Anyone have any ideas on how to do this, what to use, or can you offer any tips?

[GutlessSupreme]

If you have a decent sized air compressor, you could pick up a cheap die grinder from Harbor Freight or somewhere and throw some abrasive pads on there. That's what I did for most of my stuff. Then wetsand it with 1500+ grit and use some polish to finish it off. Make sure you clean it good before it goes back on.

[grinders_18]

Nope no air compressor  :icon_frown: Just get some steel wool and give it hell?

[meltboy11]

lol @ steel wool... it would take a while, but I am sure it would work... ummm you got a nice drill, maybe a dewalt or something, maybe you could get an attachment for that and use it.

[grinders_18]

Can someone recommend the type of attachment? I have a drill...weaker one...but still a drill. All we have for attachments are the tool types.

[GutlessSupreme]

I honestly don't think you're gonna get very far with a weak drill. They just don't spin fast enough. Go to Home Depot (or even Walmart *twitch*) and buy a cheap electric angle grinder, or something similar. You're gonna need something small to get cover our turbo. A dremel will help for the tight areas. They should have a good assortment of pads/discs for all your needs right in the aisle with them. I got my Skil angle grinder at Walmart for like $30 and change, greatest investment I ever made, though I've never used it for metal polishing or anything.

If that's not an option, those areas are where you would find attachments for your drill anyway. I had a couple of decent 3M attachments that worked good for (slowly) removing rust and paint in my engine bay when on my old drill. You can also get just a backing plate that fits into the drill, then you twist flat abrasive discs into the front. The discs can be coarse to fine. They're not sandpaper, they're like a hard polymer mesh material. They leave a nice finish when used with die grinders, but that's at a couple thousand RPMs...

[kuntzie]

i used a file to get the writing off the turbo then did the rest by hand

80 grit, 150, 230, 500. 1000. 1500. 2000. rubbing compound, never dull

it gets easier as the steps progress of course, the 80 - 230 grit are the upmost important to insure no scratches