Hi Mat, The CI material hat Stuart uses is of a high, close-grain density that can indeed be brought up to a high lustrous shine. As with any material that gets a polish the 'flatter' the surface the higher the luster will be. Work to achieve the smoothest finishing cut you can get on the lathe and then use progressively finer grits of emery cloth on a flat backer board and not just wrapped around a finger etc. Not only is that practice dangerous, it produces an uneven surface which defeats the purpose of polishing in the first place. What this does is cuts down the tiny ridges that are present in the surface that is left over from the machining process. By incrementally using finer and finer grits of emery, these ridges are reduced down to the point that the surface becomes better able to reflect light and thus more shine. After the final cut with say a 600 grit, some crocus cloth will make the surface look like a mirror. After that it would be liquid polish which is in the neighborhood of 2000 grit or better and a clean cloth. Of course, a periodic polish is in order as the piece will begin to 'dull down' over time. A clear coat of a good engine enamel spray can be used but I personally do not like that as any chip or scratch in the coating stands out like a sore *ahem* thumb. Good luck, and post us up some pics of your engine please.
BC1
Jim
