rookie paint job

Hi all,

The biggest concern about my '67 Barracuda right now is stopping the rust = new paint job. I have yet to take it to a body shop for an estimate; I'm afraid to, but may resort to that.

There is rust mostly under my vinyl top, especially near the windshield. I will definitely need help with that, as I'm predicting some sheet metal welding.

The car has been re-painted, (though to the original color). I can tell because there are some dings and scratches where the re-paint has chipped off, and the original paint underneath is exposed, (I can also tell because the driver-front fender has been replaced, and is a different color under the top coat).

If I were to tackle this job myself, would I want to sand off as much of the top coat as I could? How many layers of paint is too many?

Thanks!

Thomas:read2: