Vintage Components Refinishing Tips Needed

[19wisconsin64]

Hi All, I'm interested in restoring old bicycle parts that I have around. These parts are from the mid 1980's, and are from the Campagnolo Super Record, C Record, and Suntour Superbe Pro groupsets of that era, before the switch to "indexed" shifting was made by these companies.
It looks like the components are originally either anodised or clear coated to a light silver / matt gray. By polishing the parts they look very different-more shiny that the original parts when new.
After polishing, how does one restore the original finish? It doesn't look like it's been sand blasted, or sanded. Any advice would be appreicated!

Here are two photos- a set of original condition Super Record brake calipers with the original "soft" gray look, and a photo that was found on the internet of a professionally polished C Record Campagnolo groupset with the original finish removed.

Personally, I like the older original finish, and am interested in learning how to do this. Thanks

[jemdet]

Here's a handy guide to which Campy parts are and aren't anodized:

http://www.raydobbins.com/polishing/

Probably.

Anodized parts won't polish and will have to have the anodizing removed with oven cleaner or the like. Nasty stuff that should be used extremely cautiously.

Non-anodized parts can be polished with a rag and some mother's mag, although you'd be best off starting with a few higher-grit wet sands first.

Polishing is dirty work, so don't wear anything you wouldn't mind throwing out. A well-polished part looks great. You'll need to re-polish every so often as aluminum undergoes surface oxidation without anodization present.

[rccardr]

Clear anodizing in a semi matte finish is what you want. Check out commercial finishing companiesto see if you can find one that will work on small orders A local machine shop is another place to start- they may be able to suggest someone.

You can also do a lot to restore older Campagnolo parts using a Dremel at medium speed and a brass (not steel) disk brush with a very light touch. Good at removing corrosion, but be very careful around the anodized bits.