My truck is in darn good shape for 10 ungaraged New England years old, and I'd like to keep it that way.

A few spots are starting to show it's age, and I know that if I don't fix them quickly, it'll be all over for this truck in another couple years.

Here's the bottom of the passenger's door, the driver's side isn't as bad, but is heading in this direction. I'm thinking that what I need to do is sand/wire brush off as much rust as I can, then hit it with some sort of rust converter/primer, then paint. As it's the inside, I figured Rustoleum paint should be fine, but I haven't got a clue what to use for the first coat.

And here's the bottom of the passenger's side fender. This damage is mostly the result of a friend helping me bleed brakes and isn't really rusty yet, and I'd like to keep it that way. Same drill as before, I'm assuming, but the final appearance is more important because it's on the outside- any tips?

I've never really done any body work at all, so anyone who has any tips, they'd be greatly appreciated. I haven't been happy with the results from most of the painting work I've done on metal, but I did work as a part-time wall painter at an assisted-living facility in high school, so I'm not afraid of a paintbrush.

I can't speak for small places like that. I plan on stripping my truck, one piece at a time, and coating everything with epoxy primer.

I have heard both good and bad things about those "rust converters". I have never used one myself.

The frame and underside of my 56 was cleaned (no clue how) and coated with eastwood's "rust encapsulator". Again..I don't know how it was all cleaned. The truck has been completely apart, so it is possible it was blasted.

Anyway, so far no visible rust has returned. You can see the pitting on the frame in places still though. If you use one of the converters, clean it thouroughly. Get a spot blaster from HF, if you don't have one.

EDIT: What you see is only part of the rust. It hides deep inside things (like the door flange). Usually if you have a pin hole in something, you have to remove a large area to get rid of the cancer. Not saying you have holes...just trying to convey the idea.