Painting black rim under hubcap?

Hi, I have a 2001 Pontiac grand am, and the black rim under the hubcap has specks of rust on it. Is there anyway to paint and remove the rust? I just want to clean it up so that when I put my hubcaps back on it won't show rust underneath. Would I have to take the tire off? I think I could jsut tape everything off, but I'm concerned about spraying the rim and painting getting in behind on the brakes and what not that are in behind the rim. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

I would remove it from the car and tape it up like you said. You definately don't want to get paint on the rotors... it probably wouldn't hurt anything but it would smell pretty bad as it burned off, plus the overspray could get on your car. Removing the wheel would be just about as fast as masking off the car.

As far as rust removal, it just depends on what you want to do. You could have the tire removed, sandblast the whole wheel and then paint it all, or you could use a wire brush on a drill and get almost all of it, then use a spray on rust converter, following the directions on the can.