Civic EG

I recently puchased a 95 civic Se 2 dr, which has some rust on the rear quarter panels. I noticed that the rubber strip on the edge of both wheel wells was somewhat loose and not a tight fit so I took it off and replaced it with some 5/8 strips from Crappy Tire that basically stick under the lip and then sprayed Rust Check on the inside edge. There is a little bit of rust on the inside of the edges on both sides and I was wondering if I should replace the strip with a proper honda one or just leave it as it is seeing as it is allready rusting anyways. The reason I am asking this is because the strips I replaced it with dont protect the outer edges of the lip that much and I am concerned that this will speed up the rust process. Should I be that concerned?

Thanks.

just get rid of the strip since that aides in the cause for the rust

The rubber strip should protect from rust. It will shield the inner lip of your fender from rock chips that will eventually expose bare metal.
However the strips can hold in moisture & salt which will cause rust so it kind of defeats the purpose. Once your rust has started (it ususlly starts from the inside and eats its way to the outside) it is too late. What honda should have done from the factory is apply some sealant to the inside area of that strip to not allow space for moisture and salt to sit.

See the "Fixing your Honda Rust" thread thread for some pics of how this happens

Cool, thanks for the responses.
I wonder why Honda decided to do that? It seems like a pretty obvious problem that they could have easily prevented.