Some help with a Honda Prelude

[CaneCharger]

Ok, some my neighbor is getting work done to his car (oil leak, tune-up, etc.) and asked me if I would be interested in detailing his car (He saw me doing both of my cars last week). I want to do it to get more experience with my PC

Here is what I know about the car - I believe the car is 10 years old
He said he has wax it in the past
It is Black
It has swirls, spiderwebs, etc

Curious on what products I should use to correct it? I have Menz Super Finish, Power Lock, WG Polish Enhancer and #845
I have the following pads:
LC White (1), Tangerine (1), Crimson (4)

What pads would I need to pick up?
Thought about doing the Megs 105/205 combo, then hitting it with Powerlock, then a coat of 845...
Thoughts? He might not want me to keep it over night to seal then wax. Would I pick up something different?

Any ideas or recommendations would be great

[Flannigan]

It really all depends on the paint. Some older Honda paint can be very soft, and therefore easily corrected. I would guess that Menz power finish on and orange pad should give you some good results.

[S2K]

My black Honda is 10 years old too and it is soft and was extremely swirled. I tried 105/205 orange/white and didn't get good results (probably my inexperience) a lot of micro-marring, so I switched to UC/UP white/black and it came out really nice. One thing though, I learned a lot doing it.

[CaneCharger]

UC/UP? Sorry what is that?

[S2K]

Meg's Ultimate Compound / Ultimate Polish not quite as much cut as 105/205 but much longer working time

[Dr Oldz]

It really all depends on the paint. Some older Honda paint can be very soft, and therefore easily corrected. I would guess that Menz power finish on and orange pad should give you some good results.

I agree with Dave as a good starting point....perhaps have some UC or 105 handy just incase the you need a bit more cut than the PF has to offer. Your SF and a white or the crimson HT pads should finish down nicely for you. As always try a test spot to make sure you achieve the desired results that you are after.

[CaneCharger]

Thanks for the advice - still trying to decide what I should do...

[embolism]

+1 on power finish with orange LC 5.5 in flat as a one stepper

[CaneCharger]

+1 on power finish with orange LC 5.5 in flat as a one stepper

So are you saying
Power Finish w/ Orange
Super Finish w/ White or Crimson
Power Lock w/ Crimson

Would you put a coat of wax after that?

[rider9195]

So are you saying
Power Finish w/ Orange
Super Finish w/ White or Crimson
Power Lock w/ Crimson

Would you put a coat of wax after that?

Power Finish is a great one step polish that cuts like SIP and finishes like Nano Polish (according to AG). So there would be no need for the Super Finish. But yes to the Power Finish with a Orange pad and top that with some 845.

[embolism]

I've done PF with an orange pad, then gone straight to 845

On softer clear, the diminishing abrasives of PF finish down very well but you can follow with 106FA on a black pad on a section to see if you can see a difference.

it really depends on how much work you want to do, are you doing it as a favour, for money, for practice (you did mention this already), or for fun. I spent 4 hours on a jacked up white car for my coworker on Sunday but it didn't feel that long and she let me do some testing on the car.

Today at work she said she feels the difference in the door handle every time she enters the car and her hands no longer get dirty when she closes her trunk. That alone to me made all the work worth it.