Ok, I finally went down to the honda parts dealer to see what it would run me to replace my 04 grey panels with 07 painted panels (they said they would fit). Long story short - I can get all 6 pieces (L&R Front & Rear Fenders, Top Front Bumper, Tailgate) for around $850.00.

So, I am going to go ahead and get the painted panels BUT my only concern is the paint on my 04 E. Since its an 04 of course the paint is not as shinny as the new panels are going to be.

Ok, now to my question - How can I get my NBP paint back to a showroom shine so that it will match the new 07 panels.

Any advise on how, what or who can do this would be a big help. If any chance you are located in the Orlando, FL area and could recommend a place that would be great.

Thanks....

If you go to pep boys and ask them what would be best they should be able to give you an idea. I can't remember the exact names of the products. But earlier this year, I wanted to get my old 93 accord to look a little nicer and they give me a 3 step process (but it can be up to 5 steps depending on how much time you want to spend. I am pretty sure it was mothers. First you need to get all the old wax off, so wash it with dish soap to get all of that residue off. Then I washed mine again with my regular car soap. After it is dry, there was a cream that was applied like a wax that was supposed to recondition the paint and then there was a wax coat to do, and then a sealer coat to do. But you can add more steps onto the process to get it looking even better if you want. I was very pleased with the results I got on a 13+ year old car, I think you would be happy with it on a 3+ year old car. Good luck.

I used to use the 3 step process on my mother's '67 Continental, for 35 year old paint it was good. A lot of work but an E is a lot smaller than a boat!

When you say paint buffed is that like cut & buff?

I think I am going to leave the roof and rocker panel grey for now so it will look different than a 06 or 07 but if I do decide to darken it I will probally just go with forever black.

The paint on the E is a base coat\clear coat so fading should be minimal if any. A good wash and claying then polish and wax should make it look new again. If you are curious look at this site Autopia (http://www.autopia.org/) for lots of good information. I use a Porter Cable (PC) 7424 for polishing, it is pretty safe on the clear coat and works wonders on minor imperfections.

Another option would be to take to a reputable detail shop and let them give it a good buff and polish. Cutting and buffing should not be needed if your clear coat is in good shape.

Thanks for all the great advise. I am going to give it a try this weekend and I will let you know how it came out. I will try to post pics of the new shine and new 07 panels.