As far as compounds go, I start off with Meguiars M105 which is a heavy cut compound and then finish it off with Meguiars M205 which is a much less agressive compound and I think is considered a polish. As far as wax goes, it just depends. Everyone likes different products. I have always used Liquid Glass which is an amazing product. But recently I have been using Meguiars NXT gen wax which is pretty good as well. There are a ton of products out there that you kind of just have to try some different stuff and see what you like best.

 

Wow, it is a lot to absorb and think about. I used Mothers 3 step system before the Chatter Box Meet. And I did it by hand. I liked all the Extra dirt it pulled out of the paint. But the Water spots stayed and there wereason still some dull spots. A friend just offered to sell me his brand new 2 speed buffer for $25. Still in the box, un-used. Think I will take him up on that.

 

If you want something a little more powerful I believe autozone carries a Dual action polisher for $149. It's not as good as something like a Griot's garage or Porter cable. But for a weekend warrior I think it would be ok. I also think that Harbor freight carries one as well that is less expensive but has several speeds and is a DA so it is safe on the paint when in the hands of someone who is new to machine polishing or buffing. I think it runs around the $60 mark and from what I have heard it is pretty decent quality except for the baking plate which you can buy a nice quality one from Autogeek.net for not much extra money. Then you will need a few pads. I have been using the microfiber cutting pads on my brothers "new" 96' camaro to help bring the paint back to life a bit and those things remove defects like it's nobody's business. For water spots you would be ok with a foam cutting pad, a foam polishing pad, and then a foam pad that has no cut at all for applying wax. Which honestly you don't need anything other then your hands to apply wax. You aren't trying to get rid of defects at that point. So you could skip out on that last pad. You could also go with a wool pad, however those have a really aggressive cut, probably more then you would really need just to get rid of water spots. But if it were me I would at least go with the DA polisher from harbor freight, you need something that spins at a fast enough rate so you can put some pressure on the machine to correct. If you get a polisher that say has 2 speeds and only goes up to 6-800 RPM, will it cut? Probably, but you will be at it for a while. For me spending $40ish more to get something that will save me a few hours of work would be well worth it. And it's something that you will always have to do any work that needs to be done. Hopefully that helps some

 

I'm not sure what kind my friend has. But he is an X-Ford mechanic and Classic Car enthusiast.. He only buys Hi Quality stuff. Snap on and Mac are his tools of choice. I'll ask him at work tomorrow what brand it is. I know that he bought it in lue of polishing his 67 Chevell But a neighbor of he thought it Look good on fire. So the Burned it up. now he wants to sell it to e cause he knows I will use it! And since he's a friend he wants to give me a deal. Buffer 6 pads and premium wax.
Although I have use a buffer before, had a Black 98 Monte LS that sat under a Blueberry tree for two years and I buffed it back to Life, I think I may need to take a Buffing Refresher course! Lol

 

I would tell you to first start with the 205 if you go with Mequiars, start with a test area to see if you get the results you are looking for with the least aggressive correction. If it works then you don't need the 105, which will be better as you can do it in 1 step & have less impact on your clear & you can be done much sooner. Worst case is you spent 15 minutes to figure out how to get the whole car where you want it to be.