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I bought a complete set of five original used M38A1 wheels years ago off of ebay. They are in decent shape and roll true, but have some typical rust from between the rubber flap and outer diameter of the wheel. I am taking these to be blasted soon and get on my rolling chassis.

My biggest concern is this. At what point should I be worried about the safety of using pitted wheels? My plan is to do some upgrades for more regular driving i.e. 11" brakes, dual master cylinder, overdrive, and STA Super Traxion tires.

Even if they could be balanced, is there a possibility of these wheels losing structural strength when driving against adverse conditions like wash-board roads or off-road? There are some used wheels on ebay now that are just plain ugly and I wouldn't trust them much, but everyone has their own opinion.

Thoughts?

Also curious about what people have had success with when painting these rims that hold up. Not crazy about POR 15, but wonder if two part epoxy primer works vs. Gillespie red primer?

As a general rule pits exceeding 20% of metal thickness are unacceptable. Your main concern is loss of a bead seat. If you don't cover the primer the wheel will rust again. So any quality primer/enamel combo that's compatible with each other or a two part epoxy finish will hold up well.