Bongo Fury

So, Billy has some rust, so I am starting to treat the spots and I am going to respray the areas to generally tart it up.
First area is the the roof area and gutter.

The gutter is mostly orange, so that is getting Kurust treatment and then a rub down and spray..

but, under the roof the corners have a bit of rust..

but they also have a plastic strip stuck down.



To treat the rust I needed to remove these (I used a heat gun and lots of broken finger nails)

Any idea what these do?
Should I replace them?

Thanks as always for great helpful people.

Cut some from this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Clear-Gloss-S ... 3cd122e6ff

Agree with Mark, just looks like some protective strip to stop the roof rubbing.

Didn't stop the rust over the years so I wouldn't bother putting it back