There is a body shop not too far away that uses a Rustbuster welder that will "spray" metal to repair rust rather than cutting it out. I went to the manufacturers site "Rustbusters.com" and it looked interesting. I wondered if anyone had any experience with this that they would share.

I've talked to a local guy in Riverside, Ca. that has one. Said he bought it primarily for his own projects, and hasn't quite mastered it yet. But did offer to let me check out his progress.
At approx $60.00 an hr. with an average of about 2 hrs for a trunk pan, sure seems like a viable alternative to pan replacement. Also, I'm not sure what effect, if any the galvanize will have on primer/paint adhesion.
Terry

I have a small area under the vinyl top. the damaged area is smaller than the palm of your had with only a silver dollar size hole. I also have a two inch hole in the channel for the windshield. This sure sounds easier than cutting this our and welding back. Unless I hear of bad experience by others, I am going to give this a try. I will share my results with all of you.