The material arrived at the machine shop today and production should begin sometime next week. I'm hoping they get a break from their regular work to knock these out quick. Like I said before, 3-5 weeks, but I'll push them along.

I had 8 orders total this go around. I know you guys will love these. I'll keep you up to date!

Dave

Update:

The 8 ordered will ship tomorrow (Tuesday). I will be sending a PM to those who ordered with a FedEx tracking number.

I'd like feedback here as to what you think, and pictures of them pained or powdered and installed!

Thanks!
Dave

Just got mine on Thursday. Wow, they turned out great! Excellent design and machining. I will begin the polishing process after this weekend. I had to do something similar on a brass part I had chrome plated to get rid of all machining marks. You have to start with a pretty coarse sandpaper (I think 320 grit) and wet sand in increments all the way to a 1500 grit, then do a final polishing. You have to start coarse enough or else any machining marks will really show after polishing. When I'm done these things should have a mirror finish! What process are you guys planning? I still need to determine the best method to clear coat. Any ideas? I will probably have them professionally done.

Thanks for coordinating all this Dave! I am extremely pleased with the quality of these one-off custom pieces for my Formula!

I received my set also! Really cool!

Sir 4formula fastech:
Could you be kind enough to post a bit more specific instructions on how to sand and polish up the surfaces. I want to polish 'em up right without damaging them.

I wonder if the glove box cover would be a possiblity--polished aluminum to match our new step plates.

Hi Dave,

received mine also. GREAT JOB !!!
going monday to the powdercoat guy to see what he thinks , still not sure weather to polish or powdercoat , will let everyone know and post some pics, AGAIN THANKS !!!

JOHN

Yes indeed, the step plates are definatly first quality. The polishing will begin shortly, then I think I'll locate someone to hit them with clear powdercoat,so they match the handles. Thanks again, Dave.

I'm glad they are evreything you guys were looking for. I haven't done anything with mine except wiipe them with some windex and a micro-fiber since I polished and installed them. Might be a little different in a salty environment. Can't wait to see the different installs!

And, by the way, you are all welcome

Dave

You're playing on here when you should be on the two way radio "ass"isting (ie. helping the a$$) with the boat retrieval. One thought on that deal came to me on the way home .... head sets! Would then allow for required hand signals while your "ass"isting.

Sir Barry, I plan to get started this week and will post how well the process worked and exactly what I did. By no means an expert on the process, but I think I know what should work really well and don't want to steer anyone wrong.

Back in the first couple of posts, I gave this advice:

"I spent about 1 ½ hours polishing the first set tonight, and it wasn’t that bad. I started with a 3M Scotch-Brite EXL De-burring wheel, then worked thru two compounds on a medium soft wheel. Finished it off with some Flitz and a foam Mother’s Ball."

The 3M Scotch-Brite EXL De-burring wheel is on my bench grinder, and worked to get almost everything smooth. After that I used a medium rouge (red) and the finished with a fine (white) rouge on a very soft wheel. Then the Flitz on the Mother's ball. I'm going to do another set for me from the new tooling and see how they come out. This time, I am going to do some sanding as well.

Looks like the aluminum is pretty good with scratches that aren't that deep, so I'm going to try some 1200 (wet) first, if that doesn't cut it I'll back off to 600, then 1200, and finish with 2000. Hit it on the soft wheel and finish with the Flitz.

That should take care of it! Anybody else?

Dave