kidsdoc- I'm not sure I see a need for Dawn in your case. You're gonna clay and use a RC anyhow so nothing's gonna last long with all that going on. You can just mix up a STRONG solution of regular car wash instead of resorting to dish soap. Rinse well!
Take your time with the clay. IF you end up with visible clay residue, THEN rewash the car. If not, don't bother, just go on to the compounding/polishing.
"Start with your mildest product" MIGHT be good advice, but MOST people just waste time doing that. IF you have swirls, scratches, and/or all the other stuff most cars have, *I* would just go straight to the PI-II RC. Removing swirls by PC is tougher, and takes longer, than most people expect.
Try to NOT breath the PI-II RC dust! Have a GOOD filter mask? Seriously, read the label and you'll see what I'm talking about.
Use the PI-II RC for your the worst/coarsest work. Don't overdo it or you might hurt your clearcoat. Then switch to the FI-II. Things should look VERY good before you switch to the SMR, it won't do much of ANYTHING; it's *VERY* mild. It DOES have fillers, but the AIO will remove them, so make sure everything like swirls/scratches has been pretty well dealt with to your satisfaction with the FI-II.
Be prepared to say "good enough". You DO NOT want to polish off too much clear. Better an imperfect finish than a car that needs to be repainted because you compromised the clearcoat. This is USUALLY NOT a problem and I suspect you'll say "good enough" long before that. But people HAVE damaged their clearcoats with the PC. It's not my intention to scare you; hey, I'm the guy who said "go straight to the PI-II".
No need to wash prior to the AIO. In fact, AIO is a great cleaner for removing polish residues. The Wipe and Shine can also be useful for removing residues, but the AIO will really clean the paint better than anything at that point.
If something seems to be going wrong/not working, post with some kind of "URGENT" in the thread title and you may very well get a quick response.
Good luck and have fun.
