I have a couple of 1954 Roadmasters with original paint. The paint on Buttercup is thin with a lot of scratches, no surface rust. This car was probably waxed and put away in a climate controlled space approximately 25 years ago. The old wax is a dirty yellow over the Condor yellow paint. I want to clean and polish this car for a long term preservation.

The Gulf Turquoise paint on Dora is not so thin but there is some slight bubbling starting in the rockers. There are some major scratches (barbed wire type) and this car appears to have been waxed more recently. The paint appears to have a white hazey film over it covered by the wax. I want to clean, polish and wax this car but will be planning on a paint job within the year.
I have compounded a couple of cars by hand before with Turtle Wax compound, polished them out then applied wax. I have a Makita polisher coming with the wool pads.My question is this. What product should I use and how shoud I use it on these cars. Any hints or advise on running a polisher and the different compounds or polishes to use will be appreciated.

Well, I was waiting for someone to jump on this but I would imagine everyone is a little cautious to give you advice on 50 year old original coatings on these great cars. I am a professional furniture restorer and conservator. Everyday I work on coatings that are fresh from the factory to well over 200 years old. First, I just don't think it's very safe to whip a buffer on coatings that even you admit are "thin." Remember this is old paint chemistry (not as durable) to begin with and it has now saponified (lost it's fatty acids) a great deal. I would do it by hand but use professional grade rubbing and buffing compounds. I have great luck with the Body Magic line of compounds available from www.supergrit.com
Get the 800 grit and 1500 grit compounds and get some 3M hand glaze locally. Invest in some 100% cotton cloths (no woven threads binding the edges!!!) Try the 1500 in an inconspicuous area and see if it will bring up the sheen enough. If it doesn't move down to the 800. The 800 is very aggressive so take it easy. I would finish up with the hand glaze. I hope I didn't burst you bubble about using a buffer but based on all the furniture and cars I have rubbed and buffed over the years I just think it's going to be too easy to blow through those old coatings.