I spent the equivalent of weeks buffing all the stainless on my 70 Cuda. Wasn't uncommon to spend over an hour on a large part (the lower windshield piece comes to mind). Very satisfying actually. I don;t think you have to spend that much, but the buffs (especially the larger ones) get spendy.
Removing scratches/dents is actually easy, I saved a few pieces I thought were trash.