I just spent a couple of hours turning an ugly set of Dia Compe 983 brakes into things of beauty. I used a pad sander with 220 grit and then a couple of grades of steel wool and then buffed with rouge on a cotton wheel. They look like I had them chromed.
The rims, hubs cranks, bars, stem, brakes and seatpost on my Gitane TdF are all bare unprotected aluminum and they're 35 years old. There are no signs of corrosion on any of the parts. You don't have to worry about corrosion as long as you polish the parts once in a while.
http://community.webshots.com/photo/...15654223LpNOlK