I'm restoring a Honda 4514 ride-on mower. Until today, I'd assumed it was powder coated but having taken the da to it, realised it's paint.

It'll be stripped back to bare metal, etch primed, primed and top-coated (all with aerosols).

I'd like it to a) last and b) look good so

do I

sand the etch primer then
paint high build primer and sand that or
paint normal primer straight onto the etch and sand that or
etc etc

Cheers

I epoxy primed my MGB and didn't sand until I had some filler primer on there.

If you sand the etch you risk getting back to bare metal

Not an expert - isn't etch supposed to give a binder for the next layer so sanding it removes the binder?

Once your ready to paint I would recommend rust-oleum industrial hard hat spray paint. It's thick and goes a long way, the gloss stuff give a nice shin which can be polished and good value for money. I used it for quite a few projects including respraying my lawn tractor and my whole Fiesta.