shimano 333 downtube shifters from a 1975 sekine they look awfully dull , more so than normal cast aluminium should look like.

do you guy's think it would be a viable option to polish them with a brass wheel brush on a dremel followed by a plastic wheel brush and compound ?

these are like my shifters, only mine are not with me now.



you can also see what the look like in this link https://www.flickr.com/photos/thefran...9707/lightbox/

They might be zinc. If they stubbornly refuse to take a shine, they probably are. Fortunately, manufacturers quit doing this in pretty short order.

To answer your question, a brass brush should help a great deal and probably won't hurt. Proceed with caution, of course.

Hmm. Never seen those before. Shimano Record. If it were me, I wouldn't use a brass brush. Brass is harder than aluminum, and I'll wager those are cast aluminum. You might start with an aluminum polish. Should shine them up fine. Some Mother's and a tooth brush. That said, I kind of like the way they look now. Patina.

+1, start with aluminum polish

I wouldn't put any powered wheel on them, not required. Use some metal polish and a clean rag.
I like Simichrome from Germany. But Mother's Mag Polish from Canandian Tire will do.
If it's aluminum, it'll shine like mad once the oxide is off.

Does anyone else use one of these? It's the best invention ever for cleaning small bike parts. Fill it with crushed walnut shells and a little polish. . .throw your parts in and a few hours later they are done.

I never thought about bike parts.

Confirm first if it has clear anodizing on it by hitting it with metal/aluminum polish first. If it quickly shines up, and leaves black residue on your rag right away, it's most likely bare aluminum and you can polish away to get a mirror shine real quick. If it doesn't and stays dull even with a lot of rubbing, you might have clear anodizing in the way then with some underlying oxidation. You need to strip off the claer anodizing first to get at the alumnum to polish the levers. Oven cleaner will take the anodizing off. Do a search on this forum to find out how you use it properly.

Chombi

Inexpensive pourous like aluminum never gets a good polish....you'll get them shiney but not polished.

Polished, shiney,....whatever....just better than it looks presently, I guess.....

Chombi