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I glass bead my aluminum parts and then I lightly buff them with #0000 steel wool.
Looks great and won't get dirty as fast as just plain glass beading them.
If you do get grease.oil or fuel stains on them it will clean up nicely using carb cleaner or brake clean as stated before.
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That's been my experience as well. Low psi bead blast (30-35 siphon, which wont even harm your hand) , followed with a fine steel wool. Looks really good, takes maybe an hour.
Ive read many times on the various boards that bead blasting an intake will make one more susceptible to staining. Maybe it's in incorrect application (media, too much psi, I don't know?), because all of the ones I've done clean up very easily. And not just cleaning up fresh leaks/spills, but even after some time and after being heat-cycled a few times, a quick wipe with wax/grease/silicone remover cleans it right up.
Not saying it'll look exactly like tumbled/skinned, but for those "how to" guys, you can get pretty good results:
