Mr. Mower,
I did prime the area to be painted. I used Rustoleum Bare Metal Prime in White.
I used Rustoleum Marigold.
The mowing test went off today. I only put paint on for the mowing test. I am amazed at the modification as not one clipping touched the lowered reinforcement. I purposely left the rear four or four and half inches about .050 higher than the front in order to see if any part of the reinforcement bar would capture any wet grass / weeds.
The final section of the video I shot today, 06/18/2018 shows the paint as staying put due to not being pounded by the fodder being thrown over the bar instead of the bar being pummeled as usual. There is a bit of green colorization on the higher area telling me if the .050 is removed, the reinforcement bar is then not being hit at all.
Considering this modification isn't one I felt is a necessity for a Raptor, I won't be lowering the extra .050 as for my use, I'm satisfied and especially since there is still a safety factor that is lost when entirely cutting out the reinforcement bar.
I'll most likely clean the area with the green stain, shoot the paint with a few coats of clear coat.
The second photo is altered with some black lines drawn in to demonstrate how the straight line would have looked if I'd not chosen to raise the rear of the cut. Since the altered photo makes it look so much better. May have to lower the rear for aesthetics purposes only.