Very nice.

 

Very nice Toomany,you could always laquer them, it will dull them a little but will make them a lot easier to keep clean and also keep the road salt off.

 

Sorry for the delayed response.

I used steel wool to "smooth" the bare aluminum. I started with 0 went to 00 then 000 and finally to 0000. That seemed to work fine. I probably could have skipped the 0 grit. I recently did some other aluminum...but used wet sanding paper. I got a dull finish...most likely what you've experianced. Hit it with the steel wool and it cleared right up. I'll also say that it takes more then a few swipes with it, I've got a couple hours into mine.

You may also want to try an aluminum cleaner. Something to contaminats from the metal.

 

hi look up shark hide for aluminum it is a sealer for boats the stuff works

 

Autosol is also good - leaves a layer of protection on the metal (any metal)