No, you need to seal those seams. I had a friend help me paint mine about 6 years ago and he got ahead of me and painted before I sealed the seams and they have rust bubbles on both sides now. There was never any rust on my EB before I repainted. The best would probably be to go to an auto paint store and asK them what is recommended. Or, you could use clear, paintable, 25 year outdoor silicon caulking from Home Depot or Lowes. But I would call a paint store first.