Alternatives for roof area

The paint on the roof of my ’99 XJ is starting to show some scratches where the metal “S”s on each end of bungees have scratched it when I attach things to my roof rack. Overall the rig is in pretty good shape and I would like to keep it that way. I am not so concerned about keeping absolutely 100% stock but I do want it to look good and not like some hacked up war beast.

I was considering taping off the area underneath the rack and spraying something on to help keep it from rusting or even from just looking all scratched up.
Here are the things I have thought of, all rattle-can products:
-rubberized undercoating- I have used this before on inner wheel wells and it seemed to work well.
-bed-liner – I know in the past at least some of the bed-liner products would turn to a chalky color when exposed to the sun
-Plasti-Dip – the instructions ay it can be peeled off later so n I am not sure this is what I want – maybe it would start peeling off on its own and look bad?

Anyone have +/- experiences with any of these or recommendations?
Thanks,
Jim

I would go with bedliner JUST for the areas that come into contact with abrasives. Rubberized undercoating may not be durable enough long-term or for UV exposure on the roof, and Plasti-Dip is very fragile. If it's a small surface area, you should measure it out and get a quote from your local Line-X installer or other professional bedliner application company. If it's the whole roof that comes into contact with abrasives, you may want to just build a small low-profile rack that you can attach things to which is designed so the straps/bungees don't abrade your roof.

When I bought my XJ last year, the PO had sanded the roof to repaint, but never did.

I went with rustoleum hammered black. Good, durable paint, easy to shoot and comes out looking good. Protects from rust very well.

IslanderOffRoad said:

When I bought my XJ last year, the PO had sanded the roof to repaint, but never did.

I went with rustoleum hammered black. Good, durable paint, easy to shoot and comes out looking good. Protects from rust very well.

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Any issues with heat? Mine has wear marks on it and a few surface rust areas from P.O. putting things on the roof rack. I was thinking of black, but no headliner + black roof + desert = no bueno. Probably going with a white enamel or some shade of silver for mine.

/ZexGX said:

Any issues with heat? Mine has wear marks on it and a few surface rust areas from P.O. putting things on the roof rack. I was thinking of black, but no headliner + black roof + desert = no bueno. Probably going with a white enamel or some shade of silver for mine.

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No heat issues but I also have a headliner and don't daily mine

I ran my 94 without a headliner for about 2 weeks... Couldn't stand the heat. That jeep was black so it had a black roof