With the sanding done it was time for the Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish. I read the instructions carefully.



After the first polish:



After the second:



I'm not sure if there's merit to polishing it more than once or twice - opinions are welcome. In both cases the terrycloth towel came away black and I buffed the polished area with a microfibre cloth, going over it repeatedly with a new spot on the cloth each time until the black no longer appeared.

So...

The fine sandpaper and Mothers polish method
This took a little over an hour and gave the best results of all. Approximately $17 for the sandpaper and $9 for the jar of polish.