Restoring/polishing M/T valve covers

[chevyman0429]

I need some help restoring/ polishing some vintage Mickey Thompson valve covers. Bought a vintage set out of Houston Texas that had two coats of paint on them. Stripped the paint off now I need some advice do I bead blast the entire valve cover then polish the top and sides or do I polish protect the polish then bead blast the rest. Here’s a before picture a picture of the paint stripped and a picture I found online of what I’m wanting to achieve.Thanks

[mockingbird812]

Am sure the sage ones will chime in. Here is another route to consider. These are on my 69 Chevelle....

[HawkX66]

I media blasted a set of mine with aluminum oxide then just some Mothers aluminum polish. I personally don't care for the extra shiny look. If you want that, you can get there with some rouge etc. taking your time.

[70post]

If you want the "highly polished/smooth" look you show in your "this is what I want" pic then you might not be able to avoid SANDING those surfaces (VS. just polishing).

It all depends on a couple of things:

>How much time/patience you have....or, in the alternative, how many $ you're willing to pay someone to deal with them.

>How "slick" you want them -- I've done Oldsmobile versions of the M/T covers to a fairly extreme degree. Not just some sanding and polishing but instead, blocking the flat surfaces down to a super flat/straight surface. These things, as diecast, are typically full of subtle waves, etc. They look really cool just polished out BUT if you are wanting super straight/flat surfaces the don't reflect/shine showing a bunch of these subtle waves, they will need some serious block sanding.

If you glassbead them and still want the shiny polished look you show in the "what if" pic then YOU WILL HAVE TO SAND THEM first to get rid of the small pitting/grain that will appear on the surfaces after blasting. Sure, you may be able to machine buff the blasting texture off but it'll still take some serious time to do that.

It will be THE WAY/METHOD you sand them that will or will not affect whatever waviness they have in them.

[chevyman0429]

I managed to get one stripped and the top blocked flat up to 600 grit paper and run a buffing wheel across the top with some rouge. It’s flat but not as shiny as I want and also some cast imperfections that I gotta get out. I figured it would be a lot of work. Here’s a picture of a dick Harrell nova that’s being restored which is what I’m trying to accomplish. Still gotta locate the breathers

[big gear head]

How about these? https://www.ebay.com/itm/M-T-Mickey-...RYdvL9&vxp=mtr

Here is a single. https://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-MICKEY-...Narx3s&vxp=mtr

[chevyman0429]

Yes Iv looked at both. The single breather belongs to a member and I considered buying it but what’s the chances of finding another single and the other set I made an offer on them a week ago but apparently he wasn’t interested. Haven’t decided if I wanna them bad enough to pay his price.

[HawkX66]

Originally Posted by chevyman0429

Yes Iv looked at both. The single breather belongs to a member and I considered buying it but what’s the chances of finding another single and the other set I made an offer on them a week ago but apparently he wasn’t interested. Haven’t decided if I wanna them bad enough to pay his price.

$500? Wow. I can't say that I see them often, but you're right. That's rough. I ended up finding an inexpensive solution that matches the covers pretty well. You can see it in my picture above.
Bentley's wouldn't be bad and you don't need two with a pvc system if that's your setup.