I have disassembled the SMLE again to work on polishing the remaining paint off the small metal parts.  Remember that when I got this, all metal parts were painted a faded yellow.  You can see in the picture that bits and pieces of paint  remain. I've hooked up a polishing wheel to my benchpress with #6 high gloss cleaning and polishing compound.  Over the next few days I will try to clean this puppy up more.