Rust Prevention

[NickER34]

So I just got bodywork done my car as I had rust forming near both strut towers in the engine bay. I put the strut bolts back on and it dug into the paint and now I have bare metal exposed in the engine bay. What should I use to prevent rust from forming on the bare metal? I just spent a pretty penny getting the rust taken care of and I would hate to have to take care of it again. Anyone have any suggestions on what I should use to prevent this from happening?

[Murray_Calavera]

This feels like a trick question, maybe paint? 

Yeah I'm going with paint as my final answer. 

[NickER34]

Yeah I was gonna use a paint and primer I just wanted to be sure that I wouldn't mess anything up

[GTSBoy]

Yup. Paint. Any paint at all.

KillRust would be a good choice, as it is a good anti-rust primer as well as colour.

[joshuaho96]

Put some paint on it and a bit of soft vinyl as the sacrificial layer? Pretty common "mod" these days: http://www.garage-yoshida.net/daiko/

[GTSBoy]

Might be a common mod, but it's not real good mechanically. A layer of adhesive vinyl (ie, clear contact) might be OK, because at least you're not adding something compressible into the connection. I certainly wouldn't want to put a disc of clear plastic with what looks like a 1.5mm thickness under the bolt head alone as a washer. That is not clever engineering practice.

[Greekos]

i would leave it as it, the torque from doing up the nuts will take the paint off no matter what you do touching it with some random shit paint will make it look worse.

[tridentt150v]

Hardened pennyweight/guard washers and grease....wipe away the excess after you are done. 

[teddlon]

Applying a good coat of anti-seize product is a good method also.