Ive never stripped an entire cab side at once, I usually do 3 foot x 3 foot sections. Leaving the spray on too long will make it evaporate, the paper towels help drastically slow down the evaporation so that it can strip the paint better.
To be more precise on how I strip cabs:
I test a small corner, usually behind the CP with a small glob of the thicker gel stripper (the 30 minute kind)
after 10 minutes I use a small putty knife to scrape away the paint.
if no paint comes up, I reapply the gel stripper and let it go another 10
if the majority of the paint comes up , and the art under IS damaged I dont use the gel and just use the spray bottle stripper
if the majority of the paint comes up , and the art under ISNT damaged , I gel up a 1 to 2 foot wide square.
I continue to work in 1 to 2 foot sections trying to get the majority of the paint off with the gel stripper
once the entire side is mostly removed, like this:
then I use the spray bottle stuff and paper towels to clean off the remaining paint. like so:
spray a section with a generous amount of the bottle spray, lay paper towels down, then spray them too.
after a little more scraping (if need be) I just wipe with paper towels.
Sorry for the mini thread jack
now as for wiring.........
I've only even done the switching power supply conversion for Galaga so I dont want to lead you down the wrong path destroying the boards or anything.