photo-828.JPGas far as removing the old paint, there's fans of sanding or stripping. i'm firmly in the paint stripping camp. sanding creates a much larger mess and you also have to deal with airborne paint particles that may contain lead. i use standard paint stripper ( not the citri strip or "green" versions). it works fast and does a great job. then use a putty knife to remove the paint off in sheets. it'll be starting to bubble up before you're done applying the stripper. apply more for stubborn areas.
after that, sand the cab down to as smooth as you can with a power sander. I used an orbital palm sander and it worked great. you will prolly have to sand some painted areas after the stripper, particularly in cracks or recesses. after that, fill any gouges/scratches with bondo and sand smooth. then prime which will show any areas that need more filler. at this stage, areas that still need filler should be very shallow and can be easier filled with thin body filler which is commonly called glazing putty available at auto parts stores just like bondo. sand the putty areas down and spot reprime them and you're ready for paint.
below are various pics of my Diamond Jack cab repaint. they show the cab stripped down to the wood. visible in a couple of pics are the front of the machine and head with thick black epoxy. these pics were taken while the epoxy was curing and once cured it was sanded smooth. these areas had a significant amount of wood missing (significant enough that bondo wouldn't be structurally strong enough, IMO) so I used epoxy. one pic is after the repaint but before reassembly.photo (1).JPGphoto (2).JPGphoto (3).JPGphoto (4).JPGphoto.JPGphoto-828.JPG

No worries on the flame war, its just pinball. Someone else pointed that out to me not long after I finished and I've since corrected it. I made a couple other mistakes. One is that I have the color of the diamonds reversed on the lower front of the head. I restored this game for my girl so I asked her if she wanted it corrected and she thought that was crazy. Her only demand was that it played like it did before the restore. The other was I forgot to paint the new metal piece just to the right of the coin door. I'll get to it some day but have other projects going on as usual...

forgot to mention to the OP that when the cab and head are empty it's a great time to inspect it for cracks where the sides and bottom have pulled apart. this is pretty common and is easily fixed with wood glue and some pipe clamps. don't overlook this as you'll never have the game completely apart again.