paint prep help

hi all,
my 12 will be flying by summer and it will be moved to the hangar in a month. i have the opportunity to have the a&p at my airport paint my plane [in pieces] after i do all the prep, either in his hangar or at home in my heated shop [not fuselege] seems like a great opportunity this coming winter.
i covered and painted all but finish coat on my last plane but i don't even know what i don't know about modern paints and prepping metal planes.
anyone in my area in the next 2 months going to be prepping their plane for the paint shop. i would love to spent a day with you helping and soaking up all i can .
i live in n. wi., 70 miles northwest of wausau. if something can be worked out please pm me.

a tad too late here. Should be doing the last two sets of spraying this weekend adn early next week. Happy to answer questions though,

Larry

larry, i pm'd you.

When John Stahr painted my 12, we took a scotchbright wheel in an air drill and hit every rivet head from two directions, 90 degrees apart. He then sanded the aluminum in between the rivet rows with a pad sander and scotchbright pad until the water sheeted off. That was the only prep we did.