Polishing Aluminum and magnesium

[Shocka400ex]

Hey guys. I am doing a rebuild in about 3 weeks and I have decided that I am going to polish just about everything I can on my YFZ 450. What does everyone use to get there aluminum top notch using the least amount of energy. Also, I am going to polish my stock oil tank and my side case covers which are magnesium. Do I need to send them somewhere to get them blasted or is this something I can do myself with the right equipment? Thanks for any info guys.

[sampleez]

the way i polish things is:
1-strip the metal with chemical stripper
2 sand with 220, 400, 800, 1000 grit sand paper
3-buff with 3 different compounds
4- finish with blue magic or mothers

it doesn't really take too long, but it is pretty dang tedious.

magnesium polishes up just the same as aluminum, but it tarnishes VERY fast. like overnight! and everytime you wash it, it gets little water spots in it.

i did my clutch cover a while back and it looked really good, but it was just too much of a pain, so i pc'ed it black.

are you sure the oil tank is mag? if it is, i wouldn't reccomend polishing it, unless ya wanna take it off all the time.

here's a pic of my bike with the clutch cover polished.
http://img19.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img19&image=00000059bd.jpg

[Shocka400ex]

Heys thanks for that info. No the oil tank is aluminum. I was just wondering how to srtip all the paint off. Good to know about the magnesium. I'll just p-coat it with the frame. Thanks Anyone else?