By "prying up" I did not mean prying OUT the seal. I meant just sticking like a knife (carefully) or edge of a credit card, etc. under the lip of the seal and looking. Painters will do this, then stick like a small bearing, dried pea, etc. under there to hold it up while you clean up the metal to the edge. Then you can prep/paint it, let it dry, then come back and take your vegetables out and when the seal snaps back in place, it looks perfect and like you took the assembly out like you were supposed to.
Neat trick.
The Permatex sealant is very good stuff. It goes on like a clear coat. Then it chemically alters the iron oxide to be inert to neutralize the rust, and dries like a clear primer. You can then prep and paint it. Or leave it.
Two years ago in the fall, after pulling a Nelson and turning a blind eye to the increasing number of rock chips on her car, I spent a whole afternoon and really almost a day getting the rust out of the chips and smoothing the mess. Then I went back and brushed this on. After it cured, I did a 2nd coat. After all that, I had no desire to do any more messing with it, so I left it (I like to do things properly, but I am not insanely anal about it). Then the rains came - I live in the same basic scenario as you ( I have been to Concrete a few times) - Cascade foothills with the attendant rain "enchancement" vs. Seattle, and lots of gravel trucks to make lots of holes in paint, windows, headlights - I have been in Snoqualmie the last several years. I didn't touch anything up with the actual car paint until last month - two years later. No change - no rust in any spots I treated with it. I did the trailer hitch on my SUV with it last fall, then top-coated with black, the truck looked great but the lower-quality finish on the aftermarket hitch was rusting in spots from our non-stop rain.
I do all my own mechanical work up to and including an engine or transmission rebuild (my dad was a machinist early in life and still a hobbyist at it, and taught me; I'm not a professional. He did large diesel work for the Army, L&N, and even some steam boiler work on antique engines). Anyway - my point is I like mechanical work and hate body work - but small things like this and ABS fenders, bumpers etc. are easy to do I have learned. Large panels or more, etc. I don't do. Farm it out. But this kind of stuff is easy.
Also, if you ever go to sell it, It's going to knock hundreds off the resale if Por15 is slathered on, vs. none/very little if a reasonably careful home repair job is done, which costs very little besides some sweat equity. It's a decent looking little car and worth spending an hour or two on IMO. I had a bad German car problem in the past until I saw the light, and I still have one classic Audi on the books (actually, on a lift awaiting resto), so it's not unreasonable to put a little effort into it.
I do not disagree with RTF or others' approach if that is all you want to mess with. BUT: doing a better job is not costly or really that hard if you have a little time. I've seen many of your posts since I joined the board to learn not long ago, so I know you have MORE than enough aptitude and skill...
