I probably should have purchased a new valance to begin with. My original wasn't rusty it just needed to be straightened in a couple of areas and had a few dings that required hammering and dollying. I'll probably strip it back down to bare metal then hammer and dolly it smooth it out with a thin coat of body filler in the areas that need it and shoot a couple of coats of epoxy primer/sealer then stick it back on the shelf.
