Your first step is to COMPLETELY fill out your profile. This will help us to help you. If you do not take the time to fill out your profile w/ all info....it tells us that you are only interested in PULLING info off of this board, and not contributing.
That being said, take a screwdriver and poke formly in and around the rusted areas. Don't worry, if the metal is OK the screwdriver will not hurt anything. If the metal is rusted, it will poke through and show you where it needs to be replaced.
If it is just "surface rust", you can quickly fix it by spraying a rust converter product over the rusted areas. Follow the directions on the can and finish w/ paint to keep it protected.
If it is not just surface rust, you are best off to fix it right the first time. Take it down to bare metal by sanding, chemical stripping, or using a rust remover (like naval jelly which is a jelled acid solution). Then either fill in the areas w/ a quality plastic/fiberglass filler or weld in patch panels. Then prep, prime, and paint.
"Rust never sleeps"
--Neil Young--
....so the sooner you take care of it,the better.
P.S. Take steps to ensure that you get all of the rust (you can't seal out moisture to stop rust, there is already enough moisture present to perpetuate the process if rust is currently present. Sealing over it will only accelerate the process). Also make sure that moisture is not entering from the other side of the metal.
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