I finally made things as right as they're going to get. I bought POR-15 and did two coats on the rusty spot on top of the suspension hole, along the base of the false firewall, and purchased a better battery tray and brackets at the wrecker and coated them as well. Waited at least a week for all to fully cure and then re-installed. The wires looked like a total mess to begin with, but they cleaned up pretty good in the end. Let's just say that I am now super paranoid about parking underneath trees. Maybe I can figure out how to make a thin custom screen that goes between the edge of the fender and the hood hinge somehow.