well, this is a tricky question. it all depends on exactly what is rusted and where. small surface spots that are uncomplicated can be scraped treated with por 15 or some similar rust binder and touched up with match mixed touch up paint.

sanding the whole car down to bare metal is in my mind an extremely risky venture. even the best body shop will never match the original paint for thoroughness of coverage and paint into cracks and so forth.

i use the first touch up method for small areas. this sounds crude but if done carefully and keeping the touched up area confined to the actual rusted area it will virtually disappear on a non metallic paint car. which i mostly buy exclusively.

for an overall i would lean toward careful patching the rusted areas and a light sanding of the existing paint before applying an original color repaint.

a bare metal job leaves open many possibilities for areas that dont get good coverage. these areas are future new rusted areas.

these comments apply to non collector cars which have to respond to some reasonable relationship between invested $ and market value.

good luck

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.