Will this lead to rust issues?

[Kelan]

It appears the moronic previous owner tried drilling some of his own, duplicate holes when installing the cheap mud flaps he used. Is this going to lead to some rush issues down the road? Is there a preferred preventative I should be applying to these locations?

 

[Nukegm426]

Is that even metal? It looks like plastic in the picture. Clean the area well, mask off the outside some and paint it both on the wheel well side and the rear of it. You can either do black or there are places online that sell spray cans of color matched paint.

 

[Kelan]

Is that even metal? It looks like plastic in the picture.

One photo is the hole in the metal body. The other is where he was drilling into the plastic trim/splash guard.

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[Nukegm426]

Gotcha, I’m paranoid about rust so if I drill into metal I will immediately spritz it with some paint.

 

[STR]

I hate rust! I would apply a rust inhibitor, and then apply paint to any holes drilled into the metal. You can replaced those OEM plastic guards. Yeah, the previous owner is pretty destructive with a drill.

 

[Kelan]

I hate rust! I would apply a rust inhibitor, and then apply paint to any holes drilled into the metal. You can replaced those OEM plastic guards. Yeah, the previous owner is pretty destructive with a drill.

Thanks! I installed WeatherTech mudflaps that hide the damage to the OEM splash guards. But I want to make sure I treat the problem underneath so it doesn't cause bigger problems (rush) down the road.