The world of automotive paint has changed considerably over the last few
years. The only people I know of who still use laquer are antique car
restorers who want to keep them "original." However, the laquers
available today aren't anything like the laquers use when the cars were
new. Among the drawbacks of lacquer is that it is very brittle and
easily damaged. You can get a terrific finish, but it doesn't last very
long. It also cracks and crazes very easily. Its not that much cheaper
than enamel by the time you count how many coats you need to cover. And
in some parts of the country, the EPA won't even let you buy the stuff.
Most of the painters I know use polyeurethane enamel base coat/clear
coat systems. There are several major brands, DuPont, PPG and Sikkens
are some of the better known. Whichever one your painter uses is going
to be the one that he swears is the best and the others are only good
for house paint. They are not that much harder to work with than
laquer and the results are much more durable. And unlike the old
enamels that lacquers are compared to in the books, they can be wet
sanded and polished out to a very high gloss. Those older enamels are
hard to find today. I know because the only valid code I could find for
my TCs Clipper Blue was for Dupont Dulux. I had to look for a long time
to find someone who still had the facilities to mix it. Now I've got a
good sample to have a color match made in base coat/clear coat when I
repaint the car.
While you are painting things, the best stuff for the bottom of the car
is GM Reconditioning Black. You get it at your local Chevy dealer for
about $30 something a gallon. Spray it on right out of the can and you
have a nice durable satin black finish. Its also much more forgiving on
surface preparation than the paint you put on the shiny side.
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