Engine bay rust. Is that bad?
 

Was inspecting my 72 at the paint shop. Looks great but we we're replacing the engine hood shock and noticed surface rust behind the motor, against the bay wall. My interior guy wasn't concerned. I thought it was an odd place for rust. A few spots flaked pretty good.

Should I worry? I was gonna wire brush and spray with rust prevention paint.

check the parcel tray inside

Not so odd. You can see on Pelican a number of restoration projects with the rear parcel shelft rusted out.

From my experience the cause is the rear window rubber at the lower side at the corners. it works its way down. The sealing is not 100%.

New sealing products have improved the situation, but how often does a rear window get replaced.

Michel

Poke around with a scraper and see how deep it is. Weld any holes, sand and POR 15 the hell out it.

all rust is bad. some rust is worse. i would also look at the parcel shelf and would additionally look at both the rear seat pans and torque tube for the rear suspension (both inside and outside) to see if there was additional rust at those locations. i would also strongly consider replacing both rear window and windshield seals.

yes, this is a lot of work and is mostly likely expensive if you don't do it yourself.