Gents,
Thanks for your support - I only wish that Canada were not so big so that we could all get together and share some resourses and tricks. I am new to this, so I like to do things the hard way first.
For the initial paint stripping I used my 3/8" drill with a wire wheel on it. I thought that it was doing a great job until Gord showed me his 7" grinder with knotted wire rope attachment. It works just as well as sand blasting to get right down to the wood! I am doing all of this in the small garage as the big one is not heated. Confining the dust to a small area actually makes cleaning up easier ( although the wife would argue that I have not really cleaned up that much!).
Ken - in Ontario we use too much salt on the roads to find any good stuff near me. I would rather shave with a cheesegrater than do bodywork, so the 8,000 km. that I went to fetch this one from the Canadian West was time well spent, I would say.
Bob - I got a 5hp Coleman compressor with my air miles at Crappy Tire- just a toy by your standards, but enough to paint and inflate with for now. The air wrench makes short work of the big wheel nuts, but I still have to remember that the threads on the half the studs are backwards.
Rob - as this the truck goes back together I will find something to swipe from you - don't worry
.
I will try to remember to keep the camera handy to record some of the details for posterity.
Stewart