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If your rust is only on the surface and hasn't penetrated the metal, scrape off all of the rust with a dremel, pocket knife or wire brush. Also scrape about a 1/2-inch into the surrounding paint to make sure that any and all traces of rust are gone. Immediately after this, dab on some primer to cover all exposed metal. After about 10 minutes or so (check the directions to be sure), put on another coat of primer. When this is dry, apply the touch-up paint. I think Nu-Kote sells a touch-up primer with a brush built-in to the cap.
I've done this successfully when I took the time to get rid of all rust. The times I did a quicky job had the rust returning in a year or so.
If your rust is more serious than that (like what I'm dealing with), I recommend going with POR-15. You can paint directly over the rust but you must treat all rusted areas. Using POR-15 is more involved: you must thoroughly clean the area of all oil, grease, dirt, silicone, car wax, etc.; then treat the area with the Metal-Ready Yama talked about; let it dry overnight; apply the POR-15; then a special primer; then top-coat. It's a lot of work, but I've heard nothing but good things about this stuff.
My car has serious rust issues with the floorboard, doors and rocker panels. I had the choice of spending $200 or so and lots of weekends in the driveway, or thousands of dollars for a professional body-shop and having the rust return in a few years. There's no guarantee that the rust will never return with my treatment, but at least I won't feel like I spent thousands of dollars for nothing.
Rust is an ongoing battle; keeping on top of it will keep your car from becoming well-ventilated like mine has!
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Mike F - 1984 244 DL - 237,000 miles - Undergoing reconstructive surgery with POR-15
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