It depends on the condition. If crusty exfoliated rust but solid, sometimes a needle gun will knock off the chunks whereas a wire wheel will polish the rust chunks. I once removed exfoliated rust which was probably 1/8" thick from a Jeep frame and was amazed to find stamped numbers on the frame that were still ledgible on the frame. I also used a needle gun at a pretty flat angle on the firewall of a 54 chevy and it flaked off all the paint without denting the surface, right down to the factory red oxide primer! It was absolutely amazing.
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But I see you are in CA so there is probably some pretty good metal. I don't think there is just one tool for the job. I'd probably use a DA sander with 60 grit on the flat areas, a needle gun on thick chunky exfoliation and a wire wheel on an angle grinder for large rusty areas as well as a die grinder with a small wire wheel for those narrow troughs. Harbor freight has these orange plastic brushes for die grinders which have abrasive particles in them and those work really good. I used them on my cowl vent slots with great success to remove paint.
Good luck. Only thing worse is hand sanding louvers in hoods.