Today is my friend Jeff's birthday, so last night after the wife, kids and I celebrated with cake and so on, I gave him a new bench grinder and a buffing wheel, along with a set of buffing compounds. I have never had a buffing wheel and whoa boy did we have a good time with that thing last night.

Most of you probably have buffing stuff in your garage already but for those of you who don't you may want to consider picking a buffing wheel up. The 6" buffing wheel and compound set only cost about $11. When you put the wheel on the grinder, you will want to take all the shielding off that side. Of course, wear your safety glasses whenever you're working. I have a friend who was driving a wedge into a hammer handle and had a chunk of wood fly into his eye. We call him one-eyed Jack now. He'll tell you that he never thought it could happen to him.

Anyway, sermon over. Set up for buffing with the grinder looks like this:

We started out by polishing a small piece of copper tubing just to see how it goes. Then Jeff pulled the driver's side threshhold and WOW! did that come out nice. When we were finished we put a coat of wax on it, and it looks awesome.

Here are a few shots:

Jeff has done more of this kind of work, but I learned the hard way that it is always a good idea to buff with the wheel turning toward any edge on the work as you approach it. Otherwise, the piece can get away from you.

I tried buffing on the balance tube that runs between the carbs, and it came out pretty shiny, although I have a long way to go:

I did wonder whether I can buff through the galvanic coating on the part. Comments? ("Yes, you idiot!") If that is the case, any suggestions of what I can spray on the part to keep it from turning into a rusted piece of junk. Worst case scenario, where should I send it for a good, fast, cheap chrome job (yeah, I know those three things are inconsistent).

By the way, there are several reasons that I am writing these reports on the work I am doing on my car. First, I have been enjoying what I am doing and I want to share that with my fellow Corvairians...Corvairites...Corvairiganders???? Whatever. Second, I will be the first to admit my relative ignorance in such august company (at least this month). Please point out mistakes you think I might be making along the way. I will be grateful if my ignorance is corrected early in the process rather than later.

Case in point: after my last missive the Chuckster oh so tactfully hinted that at some point I might wish to turn the battery around so that it was facing the right way. I now know at least one person was paying attention. That one person would not be me. Chuck, you have the thanks of a grateful nation.

Also, Chuck and I had a discussion about the centercaps on the Motor Wheel Spyder rims I intend to eventually put on the car. Here's a little more show and tell:

Probably the next time I have a chance to touch the car will be Labor Day. See you then.

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All images and text copyright Norman C. Witte 2002.