I once lived up in your part of the country.(Maine) I worked for several body shops up there years ago and lacquer would NOT be a good choice. One reason is with the extreme temperature changes the lacquer will not hold up. Around here I can't even buy lacquer anymore. Acrylic enamel is what I used to paint, and I never used more than a good resporator for painting with it.
Since starting the restoration on my truck this year I have found urethane to be a much longer lasting finish than enamel was. You have to be much more careful not to breathe any of it in because it is more harmful than enamel. I got the original paint code & had my local supplier mix the color in urethane (single stage) and it was a LOT cheaper than getting it on the Internet & paying shipping costs. You can look on my Photobucket page & see where I painted the grille, header & filler panels.
