Polishing aluminum on your old car is definitely a labor of love. A nicely polished piece of aluminum is really something to be proud of. Anybody can shine a slab of chrome with a rag and some Windex, but to me, aluminum rewards you with a soft glow and warmth you just don't get from 'blingish' chrome.
When I brought my TR4 home, I was very happy with the level of detail the previous owner had brought the bright work to, all except the rear cockpit surround molding. The surround is okay, but it has some pitting, a couple of small holes and a few small dents. It wasn't particularly shiny either. You can't just call up Moss, or anyone else for that matter and order this trim. I searched high and low for this trim looking for an easy way out, but so far, I'm batting goose egg.
My only option was to try and restore it myself. I knew I could probably get it to shine more brightly again and even remove some of the small dents, but repairing the pitting and a couple of small holes is a different story.
My first approach was to polish it with Mothers, a fantastic product that did make it look much better, but still not good enough. I decided to hit it with some sand paper. I started sanding with some 400 lubed up with a light transmission oil, then went to 800, 1000 and finally 2000. These pieces are flimsy and have a lot of twists and turns, so I had to sand by hand. Using a buffer on them could have turned them into junk real fast. After the sanding, I started with the Mothers and kept changing rags. Finally, it was looking great again, not as good as new, but almost better in a way because of the patina it has developed after 45 years of life. I found a new Mother's product similar to their aluminum polish, but with a finer abrasive in it. After applying a few rubbings of this, it really looked outstanding. I've only done one piece so far and it took me about half a day to complete it, but it was well worth it.
Unfortunately, keeping it shiny means you have to keep up with it and polish it on a regular basis. I guess you could coat it with a clear coat, but that would spoil all the fun.
Don't be afraid to sand your aluminum, it's really the way to go if you want it to be brought back to life.
Tab