Stainless Radiator Shell Polishing Hints and Experiences Request

[Kevin in NJ]

I am about to start on my 31 shell as good cold weather project. I have a Baldor buffer and done some polishing of headlamp shells and the the cowl band.

I am about to tackle a pretty nice 31 shell I have and looking for peoples experiences.
By pretty nice I mean just a tiny crack at the bottoms that I think are from manufacturing as I have always seen them. The spot welds for the lower panel are indented some, but I believe that is factory too. There are several minor dents and one slight push in at the top with about a 2 diameter and a light line at the base.

I am planning on making a hard plastic hammer and try to work the dents out as best I can before moving onto picking with steel.

My wondering is how much of a back structure is needed to support the shell, if any, during the buffing process? Should I make a plywood cut out to support the back side, just run some cross bars at the screw points, or just not bother and keep my buffing so I do not get into the edges.
I am planning on using a small wheel on a hand tool to get the edges I dare not go near with my big wheel.

So please let me know how you sucessfully buffed out your shells.

As an aside, what brand and grit sandpaper and how much did you go through to pull out all the scratches? What worked well and what did not?
What type of lighting did you use to best see the scratch to figure out when to stop and go onto the next higher grit?

Thanks!!