It is tough work.
Very labor intensive and you have to learn when to move on to the next paper.
Then there is removing the waves from the sides of the shells.
I am trying to learn the process. I have done the cowl band and head lights. It is not cheap to do right. You will need a lot of the successive grits of paper. The cheap paper from Harbor Freight and other sources is a waste of your time. The real 3M paper lasts much longer, you know the difference real fast.
A real buffer with the right buffs is also important. You need decent equipment to handle all the parts on the A.
The big learning curve is knowing when you have the piece level and then working your way up the grits. You need to sand out ALL the previous scratch before moving to the next. You also need to select a course enough grit to level the area without out creating to much extra work by selecting too course a grit.
Leveling the side of the radiator shell requires a lot of metal working skills and learning to work the stainless is a whole new area. It works much different, but the same as body steel. The big difference is the amount of force it take to move it. Way more force is needed, but you do not want to overdo it cause you cant fix your overdo like you can on sheet metal.
I recommend that you practice on one of the many junk shells that easily found and are cheap. Though the price seems to have gone up because these 'rod' guys are looking for them for those rat rods ugly creations. I recently sold a bunch of shells I did not consider repairable to a guy for more money then I expected.
As for good info on the process of buffing, I have not found a good source. They are all very general and I do not think the quality of the work from some of the youtube videos was as good as they made out. I have asked questions in the past and not got great answers. I have bought from Tarheel parts and they are willing to answer questions, but they are tired of people calling with questions and never buying anything.
Working under florescent tube lights is not ideal for buffing work. The finished product may look worse then if you look at it under sun light. So you may try to chase the finish too much and make it worse.
Tube light are nice for picking. The distortion of the tube light reflection when you are working the metal will let you know when you are back to a constant surface. Any dents will show up like the distorted mirrors at a circus.
