I have completed the new bed for my roadster pickup (the old bed was so thrashed that all I saved was the tailgate). The new bed is all made from #14 and #12 ga. cold rolled steel. I now want to paint this sucker, and I want to use an "etching primer" to give the best adhesion to the bare metal. There are some places on the new bed that will probably require a bit of polyester filler, or 2-part epoxy putty for final cosmetics (hey, I'm not Ron Covell). I have been studying the various websites, and there seems to be an opinion that you can not use polyester fillers over an etching primer. My plan was to shoot the entire bed with an etching primer, let it dry for a day, then spray the entire bed with a coat of old traditional red oxide primer/filler, ---the stuff you mix with laquer thinner, not the new 2-part stuff. Then I would use a 2-part epoxy spot filler to fill any minor imperfections. If I see any larger spots that require polyester filler, I would grind off the etching primer and primer filler in that area only, fill and featheredge, then reprime with the red oxide in that area only. This may seem a bit backwards, but A---I don't want to do the spot putty / polyester filler thing right away, but B--I don't want the bed to rust between now and when I get time to do the spot putty thing. I prefer to use Dupont paint, as I have had success with it in the past, and I will probably use acrylic enamel as my final paint (maybe by end of this summer). I know there are newer better paint/primer systems available, but I am comfortable with the old style primer systems, and they're a heck of a lot cheaper. Any good advice would be appreciated.