sanding

Hey all, just wanted to get an opinion on whether this damage is not salvageable? What you’re looking at is the plenum side that mates with the egr spacer; it was a tough cookie to remove the spacer so the plenum took some damage Could I just sand this down and carry on or will it never be the...

Never attempted to paint a car the right way. I immediately hit metal using 80 grit, didn't expect that doing it by hand. If I use an orbital sander am I going to create thin spots in the metal with 80 grit? I do want to take my time and do it right, but I don't have a lot of spare time, nights...