i want to use aircraft stripper to remove the paint from my trunk so i can put a nice coat of por15 on it. but i dont want to mess up my exterior paint at all. If i use a wire wheel to take the paint off, after the stripper is dried out, will the particles still be harmful to paint?
I don't use that stuff to remove paint unless absolutely necessary, especially if you are working around other painted items that need to stay that way. The best method I have found for removing paint from body panels is to use a regular single edged razor blade in a holder (a very good holder, not that sheetmetal crap) to scrape the paint away. Once you get started the paint just zips off right down to the primer and then you just hit it with the sander and you have a perfectly clean panel with no mess from chemical strippers.
That should not hurt your paint if you are talking the particles from the wire wheel.....just wipe them off regularly and it should not cause any damage.
The trunk is a tough area. I too avoid liquid strippers when possible, but use them for intricate areas, like door jams. I apply the stripper, let it work, then scrap off what I can with a putty knife or wire brush. Then I let it dry for a day and remove the rest with a wire wheel. I would cover good paint, because you may possibly throw some active stripper with the wire wheel. Sometimes you get little puddles of stripper in a corner that don't dry all the way through. Better safe than sorry.
In the trunk, I attacked the area around the gas tank and the flat areas on either side with wire wheels-no liquid stripper. These were the only areas I had surface rust. I POR15'd these, let it dry a couple of days, then lightly sanded the POR15 and the rest of the trunk. Then I painted it all. About 20 hours, but it turned out good. My rule of thumb with POR15: if it has rusted in the past 35 years, POR15 it. If it hasn't yet, then primer (or the original paint) and a new coat of paint is adequate. POR15 is not the easiest stuff to work with.
i think you are referring to the dried up stripper after you have applied it. It is harmless after it has dried for a day or two, and it will have taken the paint off. I now from personal experience.