The pivot pin is bare metal (not painted) but it has some form of protection on it - black oxide, phosphate, something. I just did a 67 Plymouth front end that came off a Michigan car with 90k miles on it - no rust. I taped the pivot pins off before having everything sandblasted. Whatever coating it is it has the looked of a heat treated part - not black but darker than plain metal. My 62 and my 69 have the same appearance on these pivots.