Originally Posted by
Utopian
1. Vinegar has acetic ACID in it so you got a reaction of the acid with the steel causing rust. The ideal thing to do to neutralize it would have been to rub it with baking soda or soak it in a baking soda solution, but if you knew to do that you would not have done the vinegar in the first place. Realistically though the water wash should have accomplished the same thing.
2. Polish the crap (literally) out of it. You need to remove all of the active rust, and that what you have produced.
3. I don't know about the scales. You may need to polish them down to remove the outer layer that is discolored.