Polishing.

[Kiwijeff]

The guys at the local wreaking yard get me to do all their polishing as well as their painting.
Here's what I did for them recently.

[EDNY]

You need to tell us more...ie wheels...polishing compound grit etc..

[62131]

Are those old fire extinguishers Kiwijeff ?

[Kiwijeff]

You need to tell us more...ie wheels...polishing compound grit etc..

Nothing to flash for me, I'm cheap. 
I start with 320 wet n dry sandpaper on the real dirty stuff.
Then move to 600, and maybe 800, before finishing with 1200 wet n dry.
Once that's done, (depends on arm strength) I do the final polish with Auto sole, but prefer Mothers metal polish.
After that, to keep it from dulling off sooner than later, I use car wax.
Polishing sucks, but I like the results.

[chopper526]

Are you using wheels or doing this by HAND?? I did the valve covers and scoop for my car, but even with those after sanding I used a small wheel on the drill. I think it would have taken forever if I did it by hand.

[Kiwijeff]

All done by hand Chopper.

[62131]

I polished an aluminum wheel by hand following the same procedure Kiwijeff used and it takes very little machine polishing after that to bring out the luster.