Striker latch rust access cab

The corrosion happens from both sides. I think small amounts of water liked to pool around the striker, and since there is no seal, it trickles down through the hole and to the nut.
If it looks crusty enough to replace from the top, its likely that the bottom side is at least equal or worse.
One thing I wish I would of done differently (besides leave it alone lol) is break each bolt loose at the same time before unscrewing the 1st bolt completely.
Meaning only unscrew one fastener 1/2 to 1 full rotation from original position. Spray pb blaster and work it back and forth while the other fastener is snug tight.
Then snug back up and perform same process on other fastener.
Essentially, the point is to break the lock-tite and allow the penetrating oil to work in while the other bolt is providing support to the backing plate and taking stress off spot weld.
For the record, i didn't use any PB blaster, I was able to break them free and thought no need, especially when the 1st bolt came out. 2nd one not so much.

I will post a picture of the corroded studs that i drilled out and were rolling around in the rocker panel.
You will see the corrosion that has to get stripped off the bolt in order for it to go back out through the nut.
The body shop saved them for me to prove they got them out.

 

My fasteners look more or less the same on my 17.

I managed to remove them without breaking any bolts.

New ones are on order.

When they get here, to prevent this ever happening again I'm wondering if I could powder coat them. There is the rubber molded in so that may not be a good idea.

Next idea is to prime and spray paint them, both sides.

Possibly buy some zinc galvanizing spray paint to lay down on it under the primer first. I expect it to wear off where the latch contacts, but that parts pristine anyways. It's only the base that's having issues.

Thoughts?

I've cavity waxed and fluid filmed my rocker, so not worried about corrosion there.

I am worried about moisture being wicked back under there though. What's the best (completely overkill) way to prevent that from occurring again. Tiny bit of surface rust starting under it on the body that I'll need to deal with. After that:

Spray bottom of the latch with cavity wax before I snug it down?

Make a gasket from some standard gasket material or rtv?

Silicone, then wipe up the excess?

I know I should "just leave good enough alone", but I can't. I always need to tinker with things, and that's a cheap thing I can spend about weekend on instead of spending bookoo bucks elsewhere.

Going insanely over kill will give me a few hours of joy.

What would you guys do to get the absolute longest lasting results?

 

Bump because it's daylight and people are awake now lol.

 

I think I would either go with a thin gasket material like a closed cell foam that could compress to fit the geometry of the latch bottom. I would seal the upper holes for the bolt where it mates to the latch and also the surface holes to the body sheet metal under with a butyl type sealant like Sikaflex as best as possible. At least that way sure if rust gets started under the latch it’s an easy fix but you’ll at least not have water ingress down the bolt.

 

Good call on the foam, I have some ccf laying around I could use, if it's not too thick. And the top of the bolt holes, I may just put some caulk around the top of the bolt before I push it in. Should hold up until the next time I remove them?

 

Found this thread while looking into the reason these strikers rust, and seems the new lesson is I should leave mine alone. Sounds like the rusted bolt can break pretty easily and if not the backside that it screws into can fall into rocker?

Passenger side has been rusty for years and driver side is fine.
Passenger side this morning:


Passenger side after a little bit of wire brushing then sprayed:


Driver side completely fine: