I installed bed rails on my newly painted 1980 El Camino. I removed the bedrails to re-coat the bedliner and the holes I drilled for the bedrails are rusted and the rust is trying to come down the side. There is a plastic base for the metal to metal of the base of the bedrails but the screws that go in are metal to metal. I I paint the holes with q tip the screws will take off the paint when driven in. Any suggestions?:(:(

silicone the screws before you screw them in . and use stainless screws.

Funny you should mention stainless screws. I used the supposed stainless screws and the phillips slot rusted as well. Must not have been stainless.

lower quality stainless will rust after a while, especially where your instalation tool contacts the fastener, or in metal to metal wear spots. I'm not familiar enough with stainless to tell you what kind to use, but I have had the experience of cheap stainless rusting before.

Do you mean silicone caulk or silicone grease?

clear silicone caulking. you can get small tubes from any auto parts store.

You can actually pick up low grade stainless with a magnet. Some factory head pipes are made of this. It doesn't look pretty but lasts a long time. Any holes that I put in painted body panels get a swab of POR 15 for good measure.