Stamped Steel - Pits and Scratches Problem

[tglover]

I'm fairly new to buffing and polishing and I'm having some problems with some stamped steel parts for my Pontiac Grand Prix. Essentially, I cannot remove the pits where some the the steel is "streched" from the stamping process (the parts have oxidized some because I need to "walk away" from frustration...2 months ago! :P ):



The other problem is scrathes on these two engine mounts:


My process, ensuring to fully clean the parts between grits and compound changes:
1st Try
--------
Sanding (palm sander/hand: 80, 120, 220, 320, 400 Wet, 600 Wet, 800 Wet
Buff (3/4hp motor w/ 10" wheels): Sisal/Black, Spiral/Brown, Loose/Blue

2nd Try
---------
Sanding: 220, 320, 400 Wet, 600 Wet, 800 Wet
Buff: Spiral/Brown, Loose/Blue

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Tommy

[pickleboy]

sometimes on steel you may need to sand to 1000 to get scratches out. i dont use sisal or brown for the most part. i recommend that you start again with the spiral and emory keep working this till you are happy with the shine then move to loose white the blue is practically abrasive free and does nothing but add lustre to a shiny part so you have to get the shine you want with the white before using the blue. as for the pits i suggest the cartridge wheels and a dremel or die grinder or drill. they should cut through the steel pretty quick and give you the finish you are looking for then wheel the heck out of it. hope this helps bro and best of luck.

[mpierich]

Looks like you didn't spend enough time on a step as far as the scratches go.

Not sure what part that top one is, but if it's structural be careful how deep you go when you grind out the stretch marks.