Down to the metal..advice?

[El Rondo]

I haven't posted a lot yet, so if I'm out of order here, or not posting in the right spot, please accept my apologies...here's my situation. About 6 months back I scored a really decent '67 C10,..I've put some pictures of 'er up here before. The entire truck seems to impress from a distance, but it's got a pretty bad paint job from close of (bad masking techniques, over-spray, orange peel, and a bad Bondo job on the door that's cracking away). I want to repaint the truck. My truck is a daily driver, and I like rat rods and have no problems with a "do it yourself" look, I just want to do it the right way. I suppose I could leave it alone and just let the paint be what it is. Maybe that's the best idea, but I sure would like to change the color. I'm good with the blue, but it's a bit much. I'd like to do a vanilla cream color, white dash, football-color leather seat, etc.

I've work with some guys that have paint booths and such, and this includes my mechanic buddy, who helped me a lot to get it running smoother, but I can't afford these guys. I just don't have that sort of budget. I'm an artist by profession, and I've done some work in the past with rattle can on trucks, but I plan on doing this one up the right way with a spray gun. I understand that "the house is only good as the foundation", so I want to focus on the sanding and prep work. If this is done correctly, one can assume that the painting will go pretty smoothly and will last. Can some of ya'll give me your take on working on this truck as far as steps go? The best advice I've been given so far, is one panel at a time...for instance, get the door stripped down to the metal, do the Bondo work, and then primer it. How should this be handled? Rattle can after cleaning it real well? I hate the fact I have to take this truck down to the metal on each panel, but I can't see anyway around it to do the job right.

It'll take some time, doing it myself and one panel at a time...I don't figure I'll get it painted until the summer after working on it this summer to strip it, but can some of you out there give me some steps, some pointers, and some stuff to watch out for? I plan on starting the stripping process this summer (Texas summer too...early on before it gets so deadly hot).

What are some good ways of getting the paint off and down to the metal? Outside first, cab interior first? Thanks for any input all of you have out there..this has been such a friendly and helpful forum and I thank you for your helpful advice. My truck has been a big deal for me...I've always wanted this model and year!