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DISCLAIMER: The procedures, methods and products written up here was for my circumstances only. I make no assertions that your results will be the same nor do I claim that this is the best way to do it. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!
Pictures during DIY: sorry i have none avalible since i didn't think anyone was gonna ask me to do a DIY
This is to do the shift knob.
But everything excluding step two will work for almost all metal such as valve covers, wheels and etc
Tools Needed:
14mm wrench
Duct Tape or Masking Tape(more perferred just need more layers)
sand paper in the following grits(100,150,600,1000,1500,2000)
Any Type or Drill(cordless Recommended)
Firm Buffing Wheel Hand Sewn
Soft Buffing Wheel Hand Sewn
White Buffing Finishing Compound
Mother billet Aluminum Polish
Step one: Get the Shift off of your car
Well first of all you need that 14mm wrench i was talking about and use it to loosen that little nut under your shift knob. Use the wrench to turn the little nut Clockwise and at the same time take off the shift knob turning IT CounterClockWise.
Step Two: Protecting your leather for those of use with leather wrapped shiftknobs: You may Skip this step if you don't have leather on your shift knob.
I recommend using THIN Strip of duct tape or masking Tape. the reason why is because the knob is made in a circular fashion therefore making think pieces hard to do in one step. I used 10 layers of making tape. the way i did the making is using 1 inch long by 1 cm wide strips(hand torn so it's not perfect). taped off all the leather until leather was not visible. then i repeated 10 times.
Step Three: Take off the brushed coating
After taping is done use the 100 grit sandpaper take off the coating. after awhile you will see the difference from original paint like surface to a more aluminum color. to this until all the coating is off.
Step four-eight Sand Down to a even finish
Use the 150 grit to make surface even more even(if that makes sense). and repeat using 600,1000,1500,2000.(note as the grit gets higher the sandpaper becomes more fine) you will start to see yourself after 1000. and more defined lines after 2000. You will still see some scratches from the 2000 grit but that will be removed with the buffing wheel.
Step Nine: Using the buffing wheel and buffing compund. and prefinishing the metal
I just ended up using a drill because that was the only thing i had in my garage. Take the firm buffing wheel and put it in your drill. Make sure your drill works by pushing the button.. Slowly use the buffing wheel to buff the buffing compound. now your buffing wheel should be full of white stuff. start to buff the shift knob so that a highly reflective coat appears. yes this is a very shinny coat. you can see almost every part of your face now.
Step Ten: Using Mother Billet Aluminum Polish.
Use the Soft hand Sewn buffing wheel and buff the mother's billet polish so that the polish is all over the buffing wheel. this is used so those little scratches are not visible anymore. Now use the wheel to buff the shift knob to a superior mirror finish.
For tougher scratches buff more and longer but do not stay in one spot too long.
well... you can go from 1xx to 2xx to 3xx to 4xx and 5xx is you feel like it but i was limited as peachtree city is like a deserted area or atlanta. but you can do that if you can find the sand paper. it just took longer for me to finish with 600
Also, going from 150 to 600 seems like a big step. Shouldn't you use 2XX, 3XX, 4XX first? Going in smaller steps makes it easier.
I don't know, I am no expert. This is just what I did when I polished my wheels....
That is what I did last night...and it came out so nice! Thanks azndrunkyoon for the inspiration. Too bad I don't need this knob anymore...I just switched to a VooDoo Engraved Pearl.
Do-it-yourself Guide to polishing METAL.
. Slowly use the buffing wheel to buff the buffing compound. now your buffing wheel should be full of white stuff. start to buff the shift knob so that a highly reflective coat appears. yes this is a very shinny coat. you can see almost every part of your face now.
VERY NICE Adds a nice personal touch to your car. And you can do it your self 
