Just bought a Jimny – stripped it down, now wondering how far to go with rust pr

Hey everyone,

Yesterdag i bought a 2003 Jimny and spent today stripping most of it – seats, interior trim, bumpers, etc. – to get a proper look at the frame and chassis.

I plan to turn it into an overland/camping build and wanted to start by checking the structural condition before going further.
Now I’m debating whether it’s worth going all-in and having the frame sandblasted, treated for rust, and professionally coated or painted – or if that’s overkill.

There’s some surface rust, but it doesn’t seem too serious at first glance.
What would you do in my situation? Would you invest the time/money in doing a full treatment now that everything is accessible? Or is there a smarter balance between effort and benefit? I’ll add a few photos to show the current state.

I found this welded section above the front wheels.
The previous owner said it was done by a garage about 2 years ago.Is this a solid repair? And is this a common rust area on Jimnys?

Also found a weird hole near the stick shifter, is this a problem?

Only 2 ''serious'' rust spots i found were in the boot floor on the right and near the right rear lights. Also added some pictures.

I noticed some oil around the rear output flange of the transfer case looks like the seal might be leaking

oh and the left swivel hub is leaking it seems, i already kinda cleaned it but still put a picture, there doesnt seem to be any wobble i have driven 100kph+, but i should still repair i think?

Sorry for the long post and many pictures!

Appreciate any input from those who’ve done this before!

My view is that the longer you are wanting to keep it the more effort you put into rust prevention. This can happen either of two ways, spend money on buying the newest cleanest one you can and treat it to stop rust forming or buy an older one and then put in the work getting it up to a standard where you can treat it to keep the rust from returning.