I have read that the original paint was NC lacquer and was wondering if there are still companies which supply NC Lacquer for automotive use.
I believe also that its possible to spray NC lacquer over acrylic lacquer which may be a backup option as it seems to be more readily available.
Nitrocellulose lacquer was developed in the 20's very primative paint.
Acrylic lacquer was developed in the 50's
Base coat / clear coat was developed in the 80's and is more durable and longer lasting then lacquer.
I still remember the smell of lacquer paint in the paint shops in the 60's and 70's it has a unique smell.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacquer
The notable thing about the base coat clear coat that some do not understand maybe is that it is WAY better at enduring things like gasoline or even DOT3 brake fluid. All of those older paints IMHO that kind of stuff would ruin them pronto, esp the brake fluid. Acrylic enamel from my perspective as a dabbler is one of the toughest to apply especially as a single stage, it has to be laid down "wet" or you get orange peel, and wet is just a blond lower body hair away from runs in the paint.
Acrylic lacquer is from my dabbling almost impossible to lay on so wet that it runs, but guys would put down 20 or more coats, then wet sand, then buff, I even heard bragging of 50 coats, these would be solid colors not candy of course.
The base coat of Acrylic polyurethane reminded me of Acrylic lacquer in some ways, it flashes off so quick you can paint something and it is dry to the touch in minutes. There can be weird windows from memory, like you have to apply the clear within 2 hours or if outside that you have to wait 2 days....I could have the exact numbers wrong, folow the directions LOL.
It can be tough to just jump into paint and figure out what primer is ok with which basecoat and then in turn which clear. It used to be easy, we just used "Lacquer Primer" and you could put anything sold at that time over that.
