I was wanting to paint the upper and bottom part of the inner door panel the same color as the car. The top n bottom have that textured surface, so should i paint over that? or is there some way to strip those off and paint the metal below them. '68 coupe.

 

i thought the texture was metal is in early stangs and most people want to keep!! but a bit of sanding a few paint coats should see to it

 

You want to keep that texture, so only use a chemical stripper. The texture is part of the metal, and sandpaper will smooth it out.