The smooth parts will shine up a bit using common aluminum polish, such as Mothers or Wenzol and some elbow grease.
But if you really want them to pop, you need to do a bit more.
Below is a real nice guide to how to polish metal with general tools. I'm impresses he was able to do such a nice job with only using a drill! A compressor and die grinder will make short work of polishing. He had to spend allot of hours using a drill!
http://www.poleringsguide.se/english/
With the smooth parts such as the AC parts and lines, all you will need to do is start on page #3.
I have a large compressor, collection of various die grinders, bench buffers etc. I had a small 20 gallon compressor too, but I actually burned it up polishing, Die grinders use allot of air. I'd bet drills overheat and burn up fairly quickly too.
You can get all the supplies you'll need from Standard Abrasives or Eastwood.
http://www.standardabrasives.com/
http://www.eastwoodco.com/
They both carry top line stuff. StandA carries a larger line of the abrasives if you decide to polish ruff aluminum parts such as the alternator and such ( If you are going to the E-town swap meet next week, Eastwood normally has a stand there so you save shipping cost. )
The Buffing compound or Rouge is under $10 a bar, you use two, a heavier cutting compound ( Tripoli ) and a finer (White Rourge), the fob and wheels and anywhere from $2-$5 each, and you'll want a few of each, They come in various sizes to fit into all the locations.
A final wax (I perfer two products: Semichrome or Autosol ( Autosol seems to hold up better on parts that see heat such as an Intake or Valve covers).
Depending on your budget: An optional final step would be to use a sealer, the best out there is a product called Zoopseal. But Zoop is not cheap - a starter kit is $100. Over time (1-2 years ) the polished aluminum will oxidize and look tarnished, so you have to repolish it, Zoop will make the polishing last 4-5 years. So if you have allot of polished parts, Zoop is a good investment. ( Or you could blow you engine up and just repolish everything while it's apart, Um,, that's what I did!)
2001 Firebird, Formula M6 purchased brand new.
