Cracked Paint.....

So I went to a local body shop to get a quote in getting my 95 A6 repainted from front to back. The car is black and I bought it from an auction and the paint has (what I thought) scratches literally over every inch of the car, and obviously with it being a 95 the paint is fading etc. etc. anyway the guy was looking at the car and kept it for a better part of the day and when I met up with him later he was telling me that the paint isn't actually scratched that the top panels (hood, roof, trunk) are actually cracked down to the metal and that a repaint would require them to strip the paint down to the metal. So first thought was **** me sideways. And the price was pretty hefty. So now my question is, I would really like to take on a major project like repainting the car, I am really looking for some in depth step by step instructions on stripping the paint down to metal and repainting the car. I don't know if there are any books out there that go that in depth. But I have been doing a lot of searching on the forum on doing work like this, and it looks like a lot of people are able to do this in their garage but I am wondering about ventilation, and moisture and all of this... I would just like a little direction on how to go about this, anything would be appreciated!