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At first glance, it seems to be surface rust. I've seen much worse in other photos here on CF.
I would do a little probing and tapping around to make sure everything feels solid down there,
I'd then treat it with some rust inhibitor to stop it in it's tracks.
Looks normal for most areas of the country that see wet weather. No major damage visible. You can leave it as-is for many more years or spend some time to remove (or convert) rust, prime and re-paint. If it were mine, considering how I don't really drive in rain and store the car inside, I'd leave it as-is. Consider it as "patina".
Surely you have some higher priorities to repair on your car. If not....have at it.
If you decide to do something while you are in there, you must remove all LOOSE rust, grime, dirt, etc; then put rust encapsulator or rust converter on all remaining rusty surfaces. This will transform the rusty areas to an inert material which will no longer rust, and will protect the steel underneath. You can follow that with a good primer to seal that area from further water damage. No need to paint...unless you want it to look 'purty' for any critters that might wander in there.
Thanks all. I'll run my Dremel over it and clean up all the loose bits then put some rust encapsulator or rust converter and paint so my furry friends think it's a nice place right there and don't go any further.[/QUOTE]
Last edited by Auggievf; Jan 9, 2019 at 01:23 PM.
Reason: fixes on some details
Kick panel rust
