Can I clean this hood up?

[Rusty105]

This is the underside of the hood to my 65 Mustang project. On the surface it doesn't look "too bad", but there is a lot of loose rust floating around between the skin and the framework. I will likely get a different hood to clear the intake one the motor goes in, but would like to use this original hood to help line up all the front sheet metal. Any way to clear out the rust flakes and somehow coat the frame channels to keep it from rotting away as I work on the car?

 

[MP&C]

I you're going to get a different hood, especially if it will be reproduction, I would go ahead and line up the sheet metal with that replacement.

 

['68 Coronet R/T]

A lot depends on how much time you want to invest.
I took my '68 GTX hood apart to solve this same problem.

Time consuming for sure.