Polishing 500E Exhaust

[placo1]

I'm going to be polishing the tips of my S/S exhaust on my car this weekend and had a few questions.

What type of sand paper would you suggest using to remove the paint from the exhaust? I'm really picky about this and I don't want to leave scratch marks or swirls on the exhaust. Let me know if the sanding is a multi step process which includes different grit levels or will one type of grit suffice.

I already have a really good metal polish which I will use for final shine so thats not an issue.

Has anyone needed to put any type of protection on the exhaust tip after polishing to prevent surface rust?

Thanks for the help everyone.