My dads 96 Eldorado (black) has some oxidation on the hood, but other than that the paint is in very good shape. Now I was told by a buddy of mine and the dude working at the Pep Boys to use a rubbing compound. The question is how do you use this rubbing compound, its the turtle wax brand in the white and red plastic container. I tried this stuff on the hood of my sisters 93 Toyota but it seemed to leave some sort of residue. Should I try something else and if this helps I have a 10in orbital buffer. Any help is appreciated.

Always go with the LEAST amount of grit with rubbing compound ie; go with the MILDEST first, then if it ain't working, go with the medium cut, etc. I have had good results with Meguiar's fine cut cleaner, then the meium cut and finally the heavy cut, if needed. Every time you compound paint, you remove a bit of it's life. And you can't put back on what you've rubbed off - without a repaint.

So start mild and see if it does the trick. If not and it is still dull, then go up to the medium cut cleaner, but continue to go easy. It will leave a powdery white residue, but that can be easily wiped off. Go REAL easy on the buffer, too. That can eat into a paint job if you are too heavy handed.

That's good advice from Mr. Frost.

Another thing you might try after using the finest compound possible--buy some glaze and test it on a small area. It has some oils in it that kind of "renew" a dull or dried out finish. You might find that one pass with the mild compound plus a glaze will be enough. Then put a couple coats of wax on over it to seal it off.

3m makes a good glaze. I'm sure there are many, MANY others on the market that are easier to find in stores.

Try the clay bar. First use a light cut as stated above and take it from there.

Thanks for all of the help guys. I forgot to tell you that I tried that Meguiar's 3 step paint cleaning process with 1. the cleaner, 2. polish, and 3. the wax. (all three were liquid). That cleaner didn't do jack $hit, the polish removed a good amound of the swirl marks as well as add a nice shine to the car, and the wax helped with that shine.

As far as the compounds you guys reccomend Meguiar's????