[nytrainer]

Originally Posted by dataway

Can you guys offer me some good reasons to use epoxy primer over a stripped, bare metal body compared to conventional (2k?) or 1k primer?.......

Johnny I see NO reason not to use epoxy. It will protect the metal and you can fill over it. Sands beautifully. You can shoot 2k urethane primer over it if you feel you need to block more but the SPI epoxy (only epoxy I can talk to from experience) does build somewhat and is a dream to dry block sand. If the car is going to sit for anytime before actually shooting color I would not want to leave it in just primer. I’ve epoxy primed hoods etc and came back to the project months later. Just a quick scuff and recoat (or just scuff/seal if ready to paint) is all that’s needed.
You can also use it (SPI epoxy reduced) as a sealer before base or single stage.
A 1 gallon kit (uses 1:1 mix with activator) is roughly $200.
I don’t even know of a good 2k DTM (but I’m sure they’re out there) and if by 1k you’re referring to a lacquer primer those days are long over IMO.
Only negative I can think of is panels need to be a minimum of 60 degrees so cold weather requires a heated space and collision shops with fast turnarounds would probably opt for something faster.
Use the SPI forum as just about any question you can think of has been answered there.