Painting - painting an iron fence

Our front porch is surrounded by an iron fence that was painted white many eons ago. It is chipped in most places and rusted in others. I want to re-paint it white but where do I start? Do I have to remove all the old paint and rust spots and then paint? What products and tools do I need to use? Do I use spray paint or use a brush? Help!!!! Thank you!

Here is a link to product for covering rusty metal.

http://www.rustoleum.com/SurfaceCategory.asp?frm_category_id=17&SBL=1&dds=17

The old paint can be left if it is sound. The fence needs to be cleaned to remove grease, grime, dirt and mildew. TSP or its equivalent may be the most benign of the pack for this purpose. The rustoleum primer should handle the rust for you, so that when this is all primed, you can paint.

There are many options for exterior paints for metal fences, once the primer is on. A brush or roller and brush may be the best bet. Spraying is good, but small spray cans of paint can eat your budget in a hurry.

Hope this helps.

Thank you very much, now I just need to wait for the weather to clear! It doesn't sound as difficult as I thought it would be.

Even better!! Paint straight over the rust!! Extremely hard wearing..

http://www.hammerite.com/webapp/wcs/stores/HAMUK/Home/Jsp/Home_Page.jsp?browser=ie