So far everyone here has had some great suggestion, they all have their place and you will probably need to use a combination of them to get your project done. I'll second the 3M stripping pads for bodywork, they're expensive but if you're careful you can make one last for quite a while.
I only have one other thing to add, you're going to need a whole ton of patients for that project! Too bad Home Depot doesn't sell that in 5 gallon buckets!
