Paint and rust removal

I'm looking to remove the paint and rust from a project. Almost the entire truck is covered in a light coat of rust. What is the best was to remove the rust and paint? I'd prefer a way I could do myself, without the help of a commercial method like acid dipping. Thank you in advance  

the best way i've found to remove all the paint and primer and get to bare metal is using 36 or 40 grit sandpaper and an air powered sander...electric sander will work also

there are composite discs made for use with grinders and you can also get them for use with a drill, for removing rust, even better than heavy sandpaper...but be carreful not to stay in one place too long because they heat up FAST and could distort the metal

i don't like to use the composite discs on paint because of the heat factor...it has a tendency to heat the paint, roll it off the metal, and clog the disc...

i get to bare metal with the sandpaper then use the composite disc to hit the rusty spots...then use a wax & grease removing metal cleaner to wipe the dust off  then hit the panel with some rust inhibitor/reformer and then use primer  

Ya sanding it down to bare metal is the best way I use 40-50 grit sand paper anything more then that can and will cause damage to the metal and keep the sander off the edges so you don't damage them. Once it is to the bare metal use some 80grit to help remove the 40-50 grit scratches.

Light rust can be removed with the sander as well and then treat the surface that was rusted with some ospho it works well.  
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Hi all,

Sanding is always a good option but if I have to remove paint from an entire car or truck down to metal I turn to chemical strippers, like Aircraft Stripper you can buy at Advance Auto Parts or AutoZone. The paint will bubble up within 20 minutes and you scrape it off. You can do entire panels at a time.

Then I finish off with sanding to get any off any remaining paint, get rid of the rust and end up with a smooth metal surface as a blank canvas to start with again.

Here's a step-by-step guide on how to use a chemical stripper to remove paint from your car.

Let us know how you make out or what you ended up doing!    

been here 11 months, first post is in a thread that is 3 years old, and has a how-to link that could be to something else...i'm confused and cautious...don't hit any link that does have a url in it