I use a number of products to polish out swirls and small scratches on alloy parts. Check this thread and my Post#36. This shows my upper and lower trees next to chrome. My trees were not polished from the factory or clear coated.

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/gener...luminum-2.html

 

I agree with the others that commented that if they are bare aluminum you need to keep polishing them with a finer grade polishing compound.

 

Try any of the larger truckstops in your area. They should have something in the parts and accessories area of the store. Moshers is one that I used to use on my aluminum rims and tanks on my KW that worked well. Make sure you stay away from any that have ammonia in their makeup as it will act as an acid and cause rapid oxidation and surface breakdown in the aluminum later down the road after polishing. Also, put a good couple of coats of wax on after polishing to keep the metal from being exposed to the elements as the polish does not generally include a protective element.

 

Use polishing compound. You can usually tell grit by color.
Green is coarse, then blue. White is finer and red is the finest (often used on jewelery).

 

i use the red turtle wax works great but takes a little bit of elbow grease never swirled on me because it does a little at at time...but i swear by turtle wax products if used correctly..or alteast my way haha

 

If you try a metal polish, like Mothers Billet Polish or Mag & Aluminum Polish, or most any other true metal polish and the towel turns black, it's not clearcoated and you can keep polishing. You might need a general purpose polish like Mag & Aluminum Polish to remove the scratches, then follow with Billet Polish for a mirror shine. Working small areas at a time, polish lightly with a soft microfiber to create a buttery black residue and wipe with a very soft microfiber while still wet.

If they are clearcoated, try any paint polish, polishing compound, or even plastic polish if you have it. If push comes to shove, try a scratch remover or polishing compound.

A Mothers PowerCone working at low speed can really save some time on this project with any polish.

 

I have a few smudges on some of the aluminum on my trees but nothing to get worked up about. Nice info though.