When I started on mine, they had several coats of paint and some grease. I gooped them up heavily in aircraft stripper and wrapped in plastic for a couple of hours then pressure washed. Paint, grease ect. came right off. Then emory cloth for the surface rust, rust stop primer and finish.

As long as you don't lay the paint on heavy, it won't bother the pivot points. I just applied light coats until it was all covered. I painted with them open from memory and got good coverage ('70E, others may be different).

A little shot of lube on the pivots after installation and it was good. Has held up well.