Best compound for original paint?

[theastronaut]

One issue with using a really mild polish or Meguiars #7 is that it probably won't get quite all of the oxidation off- the more you lightly polish it the more gloss it will have, but it will be nearly impossible to have the same level of gloss over the whole truck. I fought this on my original paint '64 VW for years when I was using a really mild cleaner wax that never got all of the oxidation off. It was blotchy, even using an orbital and making multiple passes over the panels. An oily glaze/wax like #7 or Zymol cleaner wax would mostly hide it temporarily but after it was in the sun for a week the oils dried out of the oxidized layer and it would be blotchy again.


We bought a '74 C10 in 2020 and have been tinkering with it recently. A good bit of the paint is already faded to primer so we decided to buff it pretty hard and get all of the oxidation off. I started with 0000 steel wool and CLR on the rusty spots to remove light rust and stains, then 2000 on a thin/flexible plexiglass block to sand the heavier rust down flat, then Jescar Correcting Compound and a wool pad on a rotary to remove all of the oxidation and bring out as much gloss as possible. I went over that with a swirl remover and foam pad, then Meguiars #7 to finish it off.