ok...so it is not completely rusty but has a spot here and there. i want to clean it up and paint it before installing it and was wondering what to do about the little rust spots. and what paint should i use? does wal-mart have a high temp rattle can cause i am headed there to buy the paint for the tail light mod anyway...

 

I bought mine..and it had some surface rust. I just sanded it down with 180, then sanded with 320. Primed...then painted it with satin black....looks great

 

by prime you just mean clean right...and did you use any special high temp resistant paint? or does that even matter?...

 

by prime, I mean prime, haha. I sanded down the rust, and sprayed a rattle can primer on the heater box. Then sprayed the satin black. My engine compartment really doesn't get that hot by the heater box...so I just used regular satin black paint, I've had no problems.

 

is it really that important to use a primer? or would i just be fine sanding and blasting since it's just my DD and not as nearly as good looking as yours...

 

Primer pays off later.

Use it.

 

If it doesn't work without primer, you can always do it again.

 

You can paint it with a brush too, or maybe just put it on in it's current rusty condition, but why would you do a half assed job just to save the $5 cost of a spray can of primer? If it had no rust and you were able to simply sand the original paint, then you wouldn't need primer, but if you're repairing rust, you'll have bare metal surfaces, so primer is absolutely necessary.

 

media blast it. Get all the old paint off and just redo it.