ball joints painted with control arm or installed after?

[BillOhio]

Working on my 69 Z. Were the control arms painted and then the  ball  joints   riveted in place?

[william]

The control arm was assembled to the shaft with bushings and hardware, dipped in paint. Ball joint [and bumper] was installed afterwards and remained natural finish. Which in WI is rust...

[BillOhio]

Of course i just painted mine yesterday and didn't think about it. Thanks William, maybe i will throw some rust colored paint on them and save nature some time.