Transport Faceplate Preparation
Remove all components from the transport faceplate, including the torque motors, plastic reel guards, supply reel idler assembly, head assembly, take-up tension arm assembly, all four push button switches, both toggle switches and the switch faceplate. Remove the capstan idler wheel, but not the arm. Then, remove the capstan motor.

Electronics Faceplate Preparation
Remove the VU meter and the knobs and retaining rings/nuts from various controls. Take the stainless faceplate to a laundry sink.

Cleaning The Faceplates
Using hot water and some powdered or liquid laundry soap, wet a green kitchen-grade 3M Scotch-Brite pad and get it soapy.  Gently scrub the faceplate going with the grain of the brushed finish. It's important here to move only with the grain. If you're paranoid, you can use a well-worn (but well cleaned) Scotch-Brite pad, which has less "bite."

If the faceplate is really scratched and dinged, try the industrial grade Scotch-Brite pads. This requires more careful application as the material is far more aggressive. If that fails, use a plaster sanding pad available at hardware stores. These pads have a rough side and a fine side; use the fine side but rub lightly.

Be very careful when cleaning brushed stainless-steel Ampex panels.  It's very easy to burnish (over polish) the panels, particularly when using the kind of pressure required to remove years of accumulated grime. Heavy rubbing on the front panels makes them look unnatural (sort of an uneven mirror finish, with shiny "hot spots"). 

Liquid polishes and steel wool pads are completely unsuited for brushed-finished panels.  All they do is created shiny spots. You want the panel to look snappy, not shiny. If someone has previously created shiny spots, the Scotch-Brite pad should undo these nicely.

Towel the faceplates dry by gently rubbing in the same direction as the brushed grain. Suggest you buy Scott Rags In A Box, 200 lint free cloths that hold up much better than paper towels. Don't confuse these with the Scott Towels, which are blue and more like automotive shop cloths. The ones you want come in a yellow box. You’ll need all 200 by the time you’re done with a full 351 restoration!

The etched and filled lettering can gray-out if overscrubbed.

Finish the faceplates by rubbing them with off the shelf Isopropyl and some of those Scott lint free rags. Then, you can eliminate the residual "smear  and give it a factory new look by applying Meguiar's Gold Class Clear Coat Paste Car Wax , available at automotive supply stores (they actually used Simoniz at Ampex).

Cleaning the Steel Button and Toggle Switches and Control Nuts
Use either Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polish (available at automotive supply stores) or Rain Dance No. 7 White Polishing Compound (available at hardware stores).

Avoid replacing the control nuts with new ones from Radio Shack. They are thin and the threads are poorly cut. Take the extra time to clean up the original control nuts.

This may seem like a lot of work but if you're going to do a full restoration on the Ampex why not start with squeaky-clean front panels?

Cleaning the Daka-Ware Knobs and Plastic Parts
Use repeated applications of either Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polish or Rain Dance No. 7 White Polishing Compound and a ton of the Scott Rags. You’ll see decades of dirt, cigarette smoke and whatever else disappear.

This cleaning will leave the plastic with a dull finish and the indicator groove white lines on the Daka-Ware knobs will be grayed out. Use a white "Lacquer Stik  wipe on paint stick from Antique Electronic Supply, part number S-F229. Let dry, then apply Meguiar's Gold Class Clear Coat Paste Car Wax to the Daka-Ware knobs and all the plastic parts. They’ll look like new.