Protecting freshly cut sheet metal edges

[Spook50]

I have a mod I want to do that involves cutting two 3/8" holes in the cowl near the wiper arm mounts. After deburring the holes, do any of you know a good long term way to protect the edges and prevent rust from starting and eating away? There will be grommets in the holes, so I was wondering about some POR-15 (or similar) painted on the raw edges and then a thin coat of grease in the channels of the grommets to double up on protection. Just want this to last until I do a full paint job on the truck and go over every hole and edge on the body with fresh protectant and paint.

 

[SteveH]

That sounds perfect - whatever paint process you use, the grease in the grommet grooves will do most of the rust protection against the cut metal edge.

 

[OSS]

Do what Toyota does and paint it

 

[Spook50]

Do what Toyota does and paint it

That's pretty much the plan. Permanent paint/protection won't come until I do the complete paint job on the truck though, so want to protect it until them.

 

[kirvesmies]

i believe you've got it covered

 

[Seth S]

As said paint. Putting a grommet over it afterwards could cause problems as grommets are good at trapping and holding moisture in place. A coating of liquid sheep in a can might help further protect the area after its been painted.