The printer actually didn't run much of a bill, i got a diy kit on ebay for 300$, but you can build one for about 180 if you get all of your parts from china, it still might seem a little steep, but in the first week it paid for itself with sold prints.
And yea got a lot of exp with bondo =] though i used a plastic filler (lord fusior 114LG) as it is sandable in bout 15 min and is softer and nicer to work with than bondo.
a 2 stage paint basically just means that the clear is a separate vehicle, so it has two stages of application: base (the color) and clear (the shine)
2 stage are usually more expensive but give more control as far as quality and color
and I did bake them, I am printing with abs which is workable at about 220 degrees Celsius, and I baked at 160 C so there was no warping
I am however having some issues with my primer reacting to the plastic and causing bubbles, but I am trying a few different sealers this weekend so hopefully that problem will be resolved