It's not a Ford, but help is appreciated.

I made a light bar out of thin wall mild steel tube in a hurry last fall and painted it with rustoleum when it was probably too cold to actually be doing so. As you might imagine, the paint did not hold up to winter conditions all that well.
I will be touching up/cleaning up welds this summer and am looking for ideas on what type of paint to use that will hold up.
The finish isn't too important, I just want it to stay on and mitigate rust.





How it looks today

 

IMHO, the best option is powdercoat, but if you're going to paint, Imron would be the best but, this is an extremely toxic product and will cause cancer if sprayed without full protective gear which would cost $1k minimum. Rustoleum oil based enamel will actually work best for you IMHO because it is easy to repair the chips you are likely to get with this or any other paint ( exception imron).

To get the best adhesion, of course take it all down to bare metal, then apply a nice thick coating of their primer..... it's really good, then you can either use the typical product or look for their industrial version (which is a little bit better in terms of durability).

 

I used the rustoleum you suggested. Looks pretty good. Definitely has brush marks visible but I like the idea of easy touch up. Added a sticker too

 

Glad it worked for you!!!! FYI- the brush marks can be lightly sanded...then either polish (like auto paint) or add another coat on top....acetone thins it nicely too BTW.