I have finally gotten the 1969 Vette I have been looking for. It is all original including the original 37 year old paint job. It is Daytona yellow and I would like to keep it that way. If I repaint it the original color but added a clear coat would it still be considered the original paint color?

A car is only original once. To my way of thinking to repaint the car in the original color with clear coat would simply be the proper color but not "correct" in the strictest sense. The factory paint is lacquer which isn't much used anymore outside of truly correct restorations due to a number of reasons.

If you want the car done to the most strict standards of judging than you can either keep it as is and see if it can qualify for "survivor" status or repaint it in the proper lacquer. Otherwise you can have it painted in the best clear coat paint available and not worry about true correctness.

Goodpoints slinger.The concept of original can be confusing at best. A laquer repaint may be an accurate resto, but it has a short life. I tried really hard to be accurate in my resto, but opted for the urethane base clear. When properly buffed and polished, it can look as good as a laquer job. On solid colors, my son and I have been using single stage finishes and then top with a couple of coats of clear for added depth. They still look like a solid color, but the shine is hard to beat.

A car is no longer original once it leaves the factory.

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I respect both opinions, you both have good points.  My 2 cents....I want to drive it, so I would strip it, paint it and add the clear coat.

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MICK - C3VR Lifetime Member #113

When I can afford to have my redone, I'll be going with the base/clear coat as close to the original color as I can get. I thought I had read the NCRS was accepting two stage paint nowadays with possibly minor deductions. It won't be original but it will be correct.
Bill

A wise choice, especially if you're going to use the car. Most paint stores can do a dead on match, even in the base clear.

When dinosaurs roamed the earth and we still used laquer, some of us would use a type of base clear, start out with the laquer color and as the color built up, we started mixing it with clear until the last few coats were all clear. It did a great job of blending the metallic colors and looked awesome after buffing.

 

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I'm finally getting serious about a new paint job, can anyone give me guidance on questions that should be posed to prospective paint shops so that I get what I pay for and also that I make sure they know what they are doing? Need to know proper prep etc? See everyone in PF next week