New windshield glass = tires?

I plan to have my wheels blasted, then powdered, then put new skins on. Fella that will do the blasting charges $50 minimum. I also plan to have my windshield frame done, since the glass is scratched bad from the hokey wiper blades that came with the big buck motors. Might as well do all the blasting at once, can't go anywhere without either one anyway. So, new glass means new tires. This is gettin' spendy.

CFO prolly gonna scratch her head when I suggest this money saving venture. (She always says yes, anyway)

Here's two problems, so far:

One, the inside of the frame has a wee bit of rust in the defrost duct. What to do there?

Two, if the pic shows well enough, the new cowl seal doesn't exactly, well, seal. I really don't want to glue this in. I've already seen the bit of rust there; blasting and painting will take care of it. Just don't relish gluing the seal in. Any advice?

 

How's the metal look on the bottom of the frame where the seal screws in? Mine's still too rusty to do much with, but my plan is to eventually fix that, and then hold the seal to the point where it's tight up against the front of the frame everywhere and drill new holes for the screws in the correct spots. I'm also going to run a bead of silicon or something similar over the gap between the ws frame and the seal edge. It wouldnt really glue the seal on, but it would keep the water out and hopefully keep the rust down in the future.

 

Bottom ouside is good. Inside isn't bad, just that I saw a fair pile of surface rust knocked loose after driving it a bit with the windshield folded down. It'll outlive me, but I want to do it right as possible while I'm at it.

Silicone topper prolly won't be the end of the earth, I suppose, eh?