If you were in the process of completely restoring your 37 year old truck and the engine is going to be like "NEW", would you bolt up an old gungy looking transmission to it? True, originally the trans was not painted but after 37 years of road grime, grease, fluids and use it will never look new again without a decent coating of a good durable paint. It has been completely rebuilt internally so the outside deserves to look just as good. I no not what you would choose to do if it was yours but for me a few extra dollars to make my old Dodge truck look good is worth it no matter how it was done 37 years ago!