I hear what you saying about the wet n dry to 3000 (god that is fine) 1200 or 1500 is is what is normally recommended for the final rub down before polishing paint. Lacquer/varnish is just paint without the colourants! It's down to how good/smooth a finish you want. The smoother the finish the less light that is scattered. It's the less scattered light that gives a mirrored finish.
After spraying it wont be as smooth as 3000 anymore no matter how good a sprayer you are. That does not mean that what you have done is a waste of time though. The better the prep the better the finish
Ideally one would wet n dry and tack rag between every coat. If you think about it your going to spray on a perfect surface at the moment so as it dries the paint flows and finds it own level to a degree, depending on how even a coat you apply. if it's not rubbed back down after and then one applies another coat, say without tac ragging as well, so there are dust contaminants to deal with also. The paint then sits on top of those inconsistencies of highs and lows (like on a CD or hard drive platter 0's and 1s
) If it's rubbed back down as smooth as glass and perfectly clean and you apply the paint, your then getting a more consistent even coat.
The way I'm talking is doing it to perfection by the book. IIRC It takes 3 months for the painter to paint number 10's front door to that mirrored gloss finish. Obviously not everyone has that time to get 100% perfection so one does as best they can within their time-scale. I don't expect you to go to that degree of finish, but considering all the effort you have put in so far, I wanted to make you aware of how to get a good paint finish that gives you that mirrored look.
As I said though follow the manufactures instructions for the paint, application, drying times etc. I hope it does not yellow over time as some paints/lacquers can do. I'm trying to think of another way that you can protect your finish so it does not oxidise but don't know of anything that can withstand the test of time and heat.
Maybe Chric knows of a detailing metal polish that protects from oxidization and discolouration. But you want something that lasts pretty much forever and is heat resistant otherwise it's like rearsets and one has to keep on top of it with Autosol or equivalent.
Oh and I should add in response to your question. Yes you will be taking back off what you have previously applied but we are talking microns as a scale of measurement/paint thickness. You taking off the highs/roughness from the previous coat to get it back down to a that perfectly smooth as glass (or baby's elbow LOL) surface ready for the next coat or finish.
Hope that makes sense
Check out the vids in the following thread
http://www.vtr1000.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=26166
(:-})
However I do like the results thus far 
will look good when there both shiney
VTR Firestorm and other bikes t-shirts
