G2F, I don't know the answer to your question, but I have painted all of my cladding screws and haven't had a problem with them at all. My cladding screws weren't rusty, but I took each one out, scuffed it up, cleaned it well, shot it with some Rustoleum and then re-installed it. (I would post pictures, but it seems that I can't from my work computer) Many others have done this same thing with their cladding screws too. Many paint their screws the body color, but since my VX is an Ebony I chose to paint them an aluminum color so they would stand out.
