Paul
Sounds like you are on the right track.
If this is the flat belt lathe, the popular choice for replacement belts seems to be automotive serpentine belts. I would use one that was not cut in any way if at all possible, I know some of those machines there was no way to get a belt in there if it was not threaded through then joined.
I have a product here by Fenner belts, Eagle Orange 85 that is a Urethane flat belt that is heat welded together. Comes in round and Vee profiles as well, I would be interested to see how it works in those machines. I use the round stuff for sewing machines and Red Devil paint shakers.
I like Ball bearing Centres for the tailstock, (these are mistakenly known as Live centres, although a live centre is one that is mounted in the headstock and is powered), and I rarely ever use ones without bearings. Get a good one though, I used a Skoda for years on the Logan and it worked well. I ended up going with a Riten extra long nose for the 14x40 because the saddle is so wide. Bull nose centres can be handy if you do anything with pipe.
I have a few different chucks. A good keyless chuck, Albrechtson or equivalent will do you well. I have an import copy and it seems to work good and then a Jacobs key type chuck. You want somewhere in the 5/8" to 3/4".
Another chuck I use a lot is a Bison three jaw ball bearing chuck on a MT taper. This chuck works fantastic when supporting items that do not or can not have a centre hole in them. Since I got it, I rarely use the Jacobs Armature chuck anymore with its brass jaws.
I have a separate thread going about QCTPs, but so far I am leaning towards going back to the Aloris style. I had an AX on my Logan and it worked really well. that would be the one you would want to look at for your 9A as well.
As for paint, well I like to use my tools and so I want it mechanically sound, but as for paint, that is cosmetic and does not affect how well the machine runs, so I don't usually bother.
Walter