Jeep 4.0 in 69 Barracuda

I really feel STUPID, now I need guidance as to how to clean up a auto body mess. I would watch my old neighbor sand old cars down in their entirety showing alot of metal and start working on them even thru the winter months. And i never saw alot of rust showing up on bare metal. As such, I got excited when the car came home and decided to dig into prep'n the body at a time when I know it rains a bunch where I live. :-(

I live in Washington where we dont tan, we rust.

The existing black paint on my car was flaking off all over the place. For the plasti dip to take bond and protect the body the way I need it too, I had to remove the old paint and get down to as much of the original paint as possible. Other wise condensation would build up between the plasti dip and the body and I would have other issues. The high spots shown by bare metal exposed to the air and rain are rusting now. So far I can remove it with just water and my hand. I would consider it minor, but I have to resolve this before it becomes a huge issue.

When I had to clean my cast iron wood tools from rust, I used a scotch bright pad and WD-40 to clean the metal then follow up with Johnsons and Johnsons paste wax to protect the metal. And those tools sit in a non insulated wood shop and when I care for them with proper waxing, they stay in great shape.

Anyone believe that cleaning the metal with steel wool followed by Rattle Can Rust Converter and rattle can paint would be a good solution to protect the car in prep for plasti dip?

For a cleaning solution, I can use Mild Detergent, Mineral Spirits, WD-40, or any combination.

I bought a Vevor stud welding kit for pulling dents out of my body. I was going to do some of that during this process to make use of this time to clean up the body more. In the end I suspect the car will be going to a body shop for final work. I am just trying to do as much as I can, mainly for pride reasons, to say I did a majority of this I could.

Can anyone offer any DIY options which I should consider? I may be stuck cleaning this up and spraying etching primer/sealer now. And my car is not in a garage, so this would be done outside... :-(

Thanks,
John