I just finished a plum crazy repaint on my 70 Challenger. I painted doors, trunk lid and hood separately. Now is time to put back together. What would be best.....to paint the fender bolts et al or put new shiny ones in??? I can't make up my mind

From the factory they were painted. It looks goofy IMO to have them a different color.

I agree, can’t understand why guys paint stuff off the car when factory painted it all together then painted the inside of doors the interior color

Not sure why you would even want to put "new shinny" ones in. Not only were the original bolts black phosphate but were installed on the car before paint. There was also some seam sealer between the fenders and the inner fenders. Since it is too late to put the seam sealer in at least paint the bolts body color.

Depends what kind of look you are going for. If it is a resto then do it the factory way. If it is custom then do it how you want. For a pro street or race car I might use ARP 12 point stainless for the fender bolts to provide a nice contrast with the paint. I wouldn't do that for a resto type build.

No sense in painting those bolts you'll hardly see afterwards.

Body sheetmetal was assembled and aligned before the paint, so everything will get painted after that. That's of course factory look.

I judge a special class for the Dallas Mopar at their annual Labor Day show. It’s for the six or so cars that have previously won their individual class at some point. These are cars that the owners try for a higher level of correctness. One guy comes occasionally with two very nice six pack cars. He insists on having yellow zinc plated bolts to hold all the fenders and doors on. It sticks out like sore thumb. It’s really bad. I take off points every time. He does not care. It looks really stupid to me. His car, though.

What look's good and doesn't is a mater of preference. We paint the bolts separate then install them. I also don't own any dead stock style cars. My Volare has stainless bolts. None of my cars have the core support blacked out. I like the body color look of the core support. In the words of a friend. "I don't build by committee." Here's some of my stuff
Doug

Thanx fellas, opinions and pix we're helpful

Mine are usually always painted body color. I choose to leave them as plated on my Challenger for a little extra detail since almost nothing is stock anymore.