My rack has a few scratches and chips from cargo and rocks, and it's starting to rust. Any suggestions on how best to touch up the paint? It is supposedly "zinc primer with black powder coat"

what sort of spray paints will work with the powder coating? Any paint and primer recommendations?

Would it be best to sand the rusted spots down and re prime & paint? Or should I use that "rust neutralizer" spray stuff?

I guess I don't care if the touch up spots are a little different texture or color, as long as the paints are compatible.

I've got the same thing going on. Interested if anyone has feedback.

and I would be surprised if any type of paint would be a problem. just hit it with anything you have around would be my thought. I have a couple scratches in my rack from shipping. I was going to hit it with some brush on black-color touch up paint I had around from two cars ago, but couldn't get the cap unfrozen. I have not touched the rack up yet, but wanted to use a brush-on for convenience

I used touch up paint on mine, and it was scratched out of the box from shipping also!! The other thing that messed it up was when I put an aluminum canoe on it before I ever had my Thule bars on it. Touch up paint seems to work fine, but it is not a clean look if you get close. I forgot I even did it until today when I was installing the carbon fiber 3m wrap on my fairing.

copy-cat

I would just sand it a little and paint it with some matte black Rustoleum.

Or, you could use black nail polish and have an "Emo Rack".

sand the area around the chip slightly to expose bare metal.

spray on two coats of rustoleum automotive primer.

then 2 coats of rustoleum truck bed coating spray.

go to homedepot and buy foam pipe insulation and a bag of black zip-ties.

cut the foam down length wise on one side, wrap high traffic areas on the rack, then zip tie the foam onto the rack.

if you do a good job it'll look tidy and like an aftermarket product. its a cheap way to protect the high traffic areas of the rack from chips and scratches.

edit:

foam pipe insulation usually has a pre-cut running down on one side, make sure to follow that side on your cut to ensure a straight line.

Good call on the foam. I had a jerry can up there for a few hundred miles and it wore right down to the metal. The others are from trees and rocks.

Is the rust oleum bed liner very thick? Or does it have a similar texture to what is already there?

A better option over foam for "high traffic areas" might be Rescue Tape. I use it on my BajaRack where the Gobi ladder impacts when I raise the tailgate. It's barely noticeable and it holds-up very well.

All one needs to do is wrap the area once. It clings to itself, it's low-profile, and is very durable stuff. Takes two minutes!

i dont own the baja and i dont have my gobi yet so i cant say for certain.

but from pictures i think if you did even light coats you wouldnt be able to tell from far away. would have to look at it pretty closely in order to see the difference.

if you're worried about the paint not matching you can go with the automotive primer plus a black rattle can spray paint either tremclad or krylon.

personally i think the spray on bed liner will not only look fine but offer superior protection over just rattle can paint.

my personal preference would still be the pipe insulation foam.

much easier to take on and off than the silicone tape.

Move to AZ

Or Vegas, what color is rust BTW???

A couple companies that make powder coat touch up paint.

Home | RaabeCo.com
CR Laurence Co

Here is what I found for process:
"To touch up powder, you will need to "remove the shiny". Use either a scotch brite pad (maroon) or about 320 grit sandpaper to rough up the surface. Feather and smooth the edges of the scratch. Once the surface is roughed up, use a high quality, preferably oil based, primer. Let the primer dry fully. Sand again, just to rough the surface and feather any lines. If the frame is semi or satin black you should be able to use most any aerosol semi or satin black. If it is another color, you should be able to match most powder colors with paint. If it is a specialty color, you may be able to get a chip of it from the shop that coated the frame. Some powder manufacturers (Cardinal and NIC/Prismatic) make "matching" touchup paint. If you do not have access to a chip, get the closest color you can to the powder. It is best to use aerosol, but you can brush on too."

"You can find many liquid touch-up paints that are available for powder coating. You will be able to find spray cans containing air-dried enamels to more advanced two-component urethane. Take care to choose products that can go together with the all ready existing powder coat so you do not interfere with different chemical makeups.If y you aren't careful you could risk lifting the powder. Also be sure to select a product that you are using according to your skill and knowledge, along with the proper environment for best results"

You may want to call Bajarack and find out what kind of powdercoat they used.

+1 winner!