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I am wanting to paint my 39 120 this spring, and would like to use acrylic lacquer due to ease of painting and the fact that I can paint it in the back alley if I setup a poly paint booth. I've painted several cars in the distant past using the lacquer with good results. The car only gets out of the heated garage maybe once a week in the summer, and not at all in the winter. I know that the enamel is tougher, but it is more difficult for an amateur (me) to use. TCP still sells it and it's still legal in Montana. I plan on putting several coats on it, and maybe a clear topcoat. Any feedback?
Thanks

Tech Sheet - Restoration Shop AL
DESCRIPTION
Restoration Shop AL- Acrylic Lacquer Restoration Shop AL Series Acrylic Lacquer is a fast dry, acrylic based lacquer system
designed for Automotive Restoration Purposes. AL Series Acrylic Lacquer single stage colors can be polished to a full gloss. CL3245 High Performance Acrylic Lacquer Clear coat may be used to give more depth of color and added durability as well as making polishing easier.
COMPONENTS
? AL - Acrylic Lacquer Color
? LT 70 - Lacquer Thinner
? LT 85 - High Gloss Lacquer Thinner
? CL3245 - High Performance Acrylic Lacquer
Clear

I don't think you should be the least bit reluctant to use acrylic lacquer, it might surprise you that a fair number of very high end restorations of prewar Classics done by some of the best shops in the country for the likes of Amelia & Pebble are still done in lacquer. Properly done with multiple coats wet-sanded between and it can come close to approximating the depth of gloss of the original nitrocellulose lacquer jobs, something base/clear cannot do. And as you note, it's a more forgiving paint for an amateur painter. Noting how many 60-80 year-old lacquer paint jobs are still very presentable should dispel concerns about longevity, given appropriate care and protection.

The shop I worked for used acrylic lacquer for year, restorations they did in the 70s, before my time there are still beautiful.

Can you use acrylic lacquer for metallic formulas ?

Can you use acrylic lacquer for metallic formulas ?

Of course; other than those that used enamel that's what many 1950s/60s cars were painted with originally and the staple of body repair shops for decades.

I need help in figuring out which color blue I have on my 39 120. I couldn't get a larger photo of it to attach, but you can look in the Owner register to see it -
1292 - One Twenty 4 Door Touring Sedan
Model Year: 1939
Model Series: 17th
Owner: David Grubbs
Location: Billings MT

TCP has a color chip showing four different blues for 39. I thought mine was Packard Blue but it looks more like French Blue to me. Which means that the wheels should be red. I've attached the website for the color chip.

http://www.autocolorlibrary.com/aclchip.aspx?image=1939-Packard-pg01.jpg

Any suggestions would be appreciated. - I do want to repaint the car in it's original color. It's been either touched up or repainted once, but the older color is the same as the repaint.

Thanks

David's Registry entry.

Car photo and the scanned images of the paint chips are just to muddied to be helpful, I suggest you compound an area to examine and scan for a match. Packard blue was a very dark blue, Centennial Blue was brighter and French blue was brighter yet - just look at the amount of white pigment in the mix formulas. Additionally if you find the original paint was metallic, of the 4 blues only Arctic Blue was metallic and was a dark blue.

Painting outdoors, just pick your days when the temperature is right day and night and the humidity (low) isn't going to change much.(i.e. stays above dewpoint) The flashing of lacquer thinner can easily cause blushing, co-condensing moisture on the wet paint, and/or fisheyes from moisture collecting on the surface as you lay down. Choose you're reducer for the conditions.
For a multi layer lacquer job with color sanding in between that maybe difficult outdoors. May take months for good weather especially for the clear. It's much better if you can do in a garage at least. You'll still want the shelter to keep dust and bugs out. I've painted in my garage like that. I painted one outside once and won't do that again. Maybe a friend or body shop may help here. They might let you paint in evening or weekend. Preparation, preparation, preparation...I was at a car show and some guy asked me how they get those paint jobs. It's easy to spot the ones that were prepped.
I like shooting lacquer, but it's getting hard to get, expensive, etc. I'd say an acrylic enamel would give a better result in these conditions. Less reducer, it's easy to shoot, especially metallics, and dries to touch in a couple hours. You can recoat quicker, get better wet gloss, coverage in fewer coats, no clear, and only need to buff out any imperfections.
Urethanes require skin and breathing protection.
The addition of acrylic only enhances the UV stability of the paint.

Thanks for the advice guys! I looked at a rattle can of touch up paint that the NAPA guy did for me. The ingredients are:
Strong Black 17.7
Green Blue 16.9
Magenta 15.5
Strong White 0.7
BRGT Fin M 0.7
Med Large M 0.6

The addition of the metal flakes sure makes it look like Arctic Blue. Thanks for the hint!