Here's a few pics to show the path I went down this winter with my 964 intake halves.
As you can see, I used a hacksaw, variety of sandpaper grits, flat & rattail files, and an old Dremel tool to knock the factory finish off of the aluminum pieces. Obviously, the closer in I could get with the hacksaw - the easier it was to sand down the remaining stubs of aluminum. I took off just about all of the raised attachment points and raised pieces with the exception of the threaded piece on RH manifold that looked brutal to remove properly - and some pieces that will face the firewall. I'll need an attachment point for the small vacuum reservoir that will hide out on that forward-facing side of the intake manifold - and hopefully, out of sight...
Pretty smooth with some 250 and then 320 grit. There were a few flaws in the casting that were small but deeper than what I was willing to grind and sand down in fear of flattening an area on some of the 6 down tubes. Overall, I was pretty happy with the results. This project occurred during the Christmas holidays and took several hours almost every night for a few weeks as I would file and sand – A LOT! Don’t think I could make a living smoothing out these intakes – this was just a labor of love as I dreamed about its future appearance after Pelican Jason Lightner did his magic bead blasting and Cerakote finish.
About 3 weeks later – which I was in no rush and told him so – the finished good reappeared at my local USPS office in great shape. He wrapped them so well in bubble and plastic wrap that they could have survived a trans-Atlantic journey even if they rode on the deck of the ship. It was fun removing all the wrapping to discover how good it really is!
Oh, and I also removed my dirty fan and housing and sent as-is for a fresh makeover!
I recommend anyone DM me for Jason’s info. I found an older thread of his here on the Pelican and recently asked if he was still taking on new business – and he was. Jason was a delight to work with and a man of his word. Good deal for both, I think. This is a light bronze finish from his 3 or 4 offerings. Love it.