Prepping a motor for paint.

I need to repaint and detail the 340 before I drop it in to the car but it has 2 bad paint jobs on it. Right now its an assembled long block (intake, exhaust,valve covers are off). Does anyone have any tips for removing the old layers of paint without striping it to a bare block ? Can I hose it down with paint stripper with out it eating the oil pan, timing cover gaskets ?