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to get the best possible shine from aluminum you have to sand all imperfections out of them, right down to the very fine machined finish, any pits, scratches... treat them like paint, start with a coarse paper to know everything down and go finer in steps to the point you can polish them,there are so many different way to polish once you get to this point. that is the only way you will get a real reflection out of them. if you polish the surface you have now, they will improve, but you can still get them better.



This is the true answer. You need to sand out the scratches and pits. I've restored many vintage wheels. Due to casting quality they may have pits even after sanding. Some wheels will look better do to casting quality. Newer wheels are better quality and generally look better. This is not to say older ones won't look nice. Start as fine as possible. If 400 grit doesn't get it, go coarser. You don't need to sand coarser everywhere, only the bad spots. I go to 80 grit if necessary. Finish aluminum with 1000 grit then a wool pad. Stainless can be repaired the same way. Just finish with 2000 grit. I'm doing a set of American 200S right now. Here's a pic of the results in stainless.
Doug

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