I searched for rust spots and found information dealing with larger rust spots, however my car has a very small rust area i just noticed



The penny is there as a reference for size.
This is on the roof of my car, above the driver side door.
Now my gut tells me to sand the rust away and touch it up, however it is so small that im afraid that if i try to sand it, i will mess up the paint on the surrounding areas.
Anyone had a similar situation or any tips?
Thanks

 

I would say touch-up paint for now, or you could over-react and get a whole new paint job.

 

Touch up paint will work, but you're gonna need to sand the area clean of rust first.

Otherwise, putting paint -over- the rust, will cause it to spread, because it will lock in moisture, and feed the rust.

So take a pencil that has an eraser on it still. Cut out a perfect circle of sandpaper to fit on the eraser and glue it into place. You now have a precision sanding instrument.

Sand the spot free of rust. Now with a tiny tiny artists brush, prime the area. Let that dry. Sand smooth if needs be. If not, go to the next step...

Which is paint the area with a tiny tiny artists brush. Usually 2 or 3 coats is plenty.

This will look pretty darn good. If you want it to look completely factory, and totally invisible, you have a lot more work to do, and I can give you a writeup for that, as well.