First time painting a car - noobie questions
 

I'm attempting to paint a car for the first time.
I've just finished stripping the car to the metal, and already I'm a little confused.

Do I do the body filler on the bare metal before I use my epoxy primer or do I prime first?

If I prime first, and then use filler, do I need to prime over again? Thanks for any clarification!

You can put filler on bare metal or on epoxy primer. If you work slow I would epoxy the freshly sanded/cleaned metal first to minimize flash rust. Epoxy has a respray window; window exceeded you must scuff it first. If you put filler over bare metal always sand and clean metal just before applying filler.

Before I put on the epoxy primer, what are the steps to cleaning the bare metal? What should I use?

A common mistake is to spray before wax and grease remover has flashed off.

Many ways to clean.

I like to use laundry detergent, dish washing soap, wax and grease remover, acid etch/rinse and finally ammonia/water.