Guys/Gals: I need your paint restoration advice!

Hello all. I'm thinking of restoring the original engine compartment paint in my 1974 Duster. My car was repainted in its original color (JY9 Tahitian Gold Metallic) in 1988. The repaint still looks very good, but when they sprayed the car, a lot of paint overspray misted into the engine compartment. So the inner fenders are now covered in a dull looking coat of misted overspray that conceals the virgin original factory paint underneath. I've been told that by carefully hand sanding this stuff away with very fine sandpaper, that you could get rid of the overspray and reveal/restore the original factory engine compartment paint. Is this true? have you ever done this? What kind of sandpaper did you use? How did you polish up the original paint once it was revealed? Any and all ideas are welcome. Thanks!