Bill you should ask the owner if he's the only owner, and if not, how many owners does he know of? Reason being, if he's had it since new then he'll be able to answer the important questions about how many times it's been buffed (if at all) through the years.
Single stage isn't really a problem, but burning through edges *IS*. Big time!!!
I'd wash it good, do any decon you can, both clay and/or Nanoskin then put a thorough coating of Megs #7 on it and let it sit, the longer the better. If it's cool, (and inside) you can let it sit overnight.
Then buff the #7 off, and it'll actually clean the paint, while adding oils, color, and workability to it.
You can use IPA, better yet Eraser to wipe it down afterwards if it's 'too' oily. You'll need to tape EVERYTHING. Get a roll (or 2) of the vinyl tape to do fine body lines, around tight areas, even edges of panels, doors etc.
Pads?
Same thing applies as any other job. Test spot, test spot, test spot, and use the LEAST aggressive combo you can get away with. Just tape off the hood, (or a door panel) and try several combinations. I'll do 1 compound with 2 pads all the time on new paint that I've not worked with before. The only thing that I'd say is not to change the amount of section passes. You can change the speed on the machine, and arm speed, even arm pressure (although I typically don't), but not the amount of passes. FWIW, I'll do test spots with only 4, or 5 MAXIMUM passes. One pad may work, the other may not. Then take another compound, 2 more "spots" and do the same thing. Once you figure out which compound and pad are working, THEN go back and put the extra passes into that spot.
I say that because it's hard to figure out what works and what doesn't when you do 4 passes on one spot and 6 right next to it. (Apples and oranges come to mind.)
Just have to figure out what process is going to start moving you in the direction you want to go. Do keep in mind though with SS paint, that the color plays a HUGE part in how hard or soft it is. Carbon black being the pigment in black (really soft), titanium oxide being the pigment in white (they make sandpaper with it, IE "hard").
From there everything else is pretty much the same.
Just be careful to not go aggressive, and communicate that with the owner before hand. Better to leave some imperfections in 25 year old OEM paint than to burn through it and be forced with a repaint.
And finally.... whilst I'm a big Meguiar's SMAT fan, I would likely go DAT,
and they have plenty of products that'd fill the bill, that are not SMAT based. Just make sure to hit it with #7 first.
rops: (Then again, Menzerna has plenty of 'oils' that'd be a plus with old paint.)
