MH> I was wondering what the best process was for fixing rust issues?  

 MH> My experience has always been you had to cut out the effected area
 MH> and then use body filler to fix the area.

cut out the area and then weld/braze in a new piece... then grind and
smooth the seam... finally, proper priming and painting ;)

 MH> I have one spot (about 2 inches by 2 inches) right near by rear
 MH> wheel area on the driver's side that has had this rust area under
 MH> the paint that has slowly expanded.

 MH> I am considering cutting it out, but want to know the best way to
 MH> repair. 

i guess this depends on what you really want... i'm rather spoiled from
watching the TV shows where they go and swipe someone's old vehicle (with
help from a family insider) and a week later they present a completely
rebuilt vehicle... there were, at one time, three of them on the air...
these days, chip foose's Overhaulin' is all i can find...

i remember when i found out that chip used to work with Boyd Coddington who
had the show American Hot Rod... many customizers in the auto industry
started with boyd... we lost a good man in 2008 when boyd died of
complications after surgery...

anyway, in both of these shows, when they were fixing rust areas, they cut
out all the bad metal and welded or brazed in a new piece and then worked
the area so that it was undetectable from the outside when completely
finished...

)\/(ark