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Nothing like a good kick in the ass to realize what can be accomplished with a few extra hours of labor! I had some difficulty getting the butterfly plate screws out after grinding them flush with a carbide, ultimately 6 had to be pulled out with pliers since the heads were stripped. Then getting the butterflys shafts loose hung me up, nothing of note in the archives. Ultimately, just pushing from the backside got things moving and then I got to work.
This was by far the worst job to do, VERY rough sandcasting marks in the area under the butterflies and I had to use a carbide burr, sanding roll, substantial blending with a flapper wheel and finally a cross-buff to get a suitable finish. Still a little residual casting remains but the finish is so much better and I'm glad I listened, thanks Mance! Took about 5 hours total but a rainy night in the garage is always a good thing and I'm sure my efforts will be well-rewarded soon enough...

Also the top looks good polished! Nice work!

the grinding and other polishing is best suited for the garage.

<ul><li><a href="http://forums.audiworld.com/12v/msgs/48124.phtml">Upper IM Polishing How-To</a></li></ul>

That takes FAR more discipline than even starting the project. And it allows you to have what only a percentage of people that started the IM Workshop can accurately claim with a less than 100% effort and that is to truly have a "ported/polished IM" as the term applies rather than just a partially completed one. You've earned the bragging rights to claim the WHOLE enchilada! And every time someone completes the "entire" IM Workshop in such an exemplary manner I am rewarded and honored to have been a part of it.

Congratulations and thank you!

Quik Steel where the casting was the worst,I will be back up here in a week's time for Labor Day. Waiting on the 272 Loctite and then it gets all wrapped up. I do appreciate the positive feedback and all the info. you provided, couldn't have done it without someone blazing a trail....

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especially as that relates to runners. The reasons for this are numerous but most primary among them are that aluminum can be polished to a MUCH higher micron finish than putty. Putty is porous and when installed in a very thin "skin" is prone to letting go over time due to it's thinness and different expansion/contraction characteristics between it'self and the surface it's adhered to. It's also very prone to "lifting" at the edge that meets incoming air which is further aggrivated by the blowby oil solids that get under any lifted edge and start to migrate even further under the thin layer of epoxy that will eventually cause virtually ALL of the epoxy skin to let go. And of course any/all "sloughed-off" epoxy skin located entirely within a runner has a direct path to the intake valve. No worries about hurting anything but it could end up blocking/obstructing an air path for a long time if it gets lodged into a spot that that doesn't allow it to get sucked in the combustion chamber, crushed up by the intake/exhaust valves and evacuated into the exhaust.

The best you can do here is take the high road... the more laborious route. Polish, blend, radius and smooth what Pierburg gave you and don't risk putting any paper-thin/feathered-out leading edges of epoxy on top of anything that is located TOTALLY "within" the runners and feathered out at it's leading edge. Anything, including Glyptal "in" the runners will VERY likely fail due to thin leading edges coupled with the "erosion factor" created by constant intake velocity and oil migration. Air at those leading edges is akin to erosion and will inevitably lift the leading edge of any foreign material and once it starts, it and the oils it carries will ALWAYS win out!