I personally have not done any parts with this process. From what I am seeing, it appears to give a factory new finish on certain parts like distributors, timing chain covers, valve covers and others that until now were difficult to replicate.
It may put the 10 spokes back to where they were just BEFORE they got clear coated?
I've been thinking about the intake manifolds too. It may be that there are various finishes on the intakes?
For instance, I could never figure how Edelbrock got to what appears to be a unique to others, finish on their intakes?
I have what appears to be a brand new virgin C60A Trans Am intake manifold. It was cast by Buddy Barr and it was machined by Offenhauser. It has a finish on it that I certainly have never seen before and when asking others how it was done, in effect I get a shoulder shrug? It's glossier and smoother then I remember. Almost like it was pressure cast?
The reason that I bring this up at all is that after seeing the results of this process, I think it has been identified. You can take the casting, as Offe did, machine it, THEN vapor blast it over the machined surfaces and not dull them. The resulting finish being very, very similar to what we see on a brand new distributor housing?
Now where does this go? Probably nowhere in particular since it appears that not many of the Ford intakes were put through this by their vendors.
I did buy a '82 Ford GT 2v intake from a Ford Service Parts dealer way back that had this type of a finish on it. If memory is correct, the S1MS COBRA intakes had this "almost glossy" finish on them new. (Yes I go that far back).
So if this is just another consideration that the Judges" need to look at, if your intake finish is too sandblasted, what's that just a 1/2 point deduction? Why bother with the trouble and risk of it right? For me, the finish on my intake is definitely something to think about or more correctly hard to let go? To others, who cares?
This could be the straw that broke the Judges back?
Hey sorry about the explosion, but I ain't cleaning up that mess.
(Psst...the S2MS was like that too. Not sure about the S7 '67 Shelby intake though, but maybe? There are remnants of what COULD be that process on mine?)