Yeah, that rust shit is a bummer. I had a small amount on mine when I had the body re-done. It was at the usual places like the bottom front of each door and the rear quarter panels. The rest was rust free. Fortunately, my cowls are good to go. It was a west Texas car, so spent most of its' life in the desert. As far as color goes, I wrestled with that decision for awhile, but then finally decided to stick with the original Springtime yellow. If you are married, have your wife make the choice of color. I have always maintained that a color is not going to make the car run any faster, and by having the wife make the choice, you are including her in some of the decision making so that later down the line when you want a new LaCarra steering wheel, she will allow you to get it.