in the winterizing process and seeing the usual rust returning after pulling the engine and painting everything last season.. (damn salt water isnt friendly) Anyways id like to slow the rust down as much as possible.. My question is does everyone usually paint over the rust before winter or just soak the engine in WD-40 or a like product?

Rust??? I am sure that everyone does something different.

If you have not tried POR15 engine paint, then that might provide better results than your current paint.

CRC heavy duty corrosion inhibitor works well. It builds a thick waxy coating that protects metal very well, much better than just wd40. Best to apply to clean equipment (not something with dry salt spray on it). I sprayed my steering ram assembly on the transom with it.

BoSheild T9 is a good product to spray on metal.