Not to confuse things but thought I would mention that I have seen 67's equipped with bare metal non painted ones as well as painted ones in 67 .Painted is certainly more maintenance friendly. I am not 100% sure if all 68 varieties were painted black or not. Many are so rusty (even underside) that it makes it impossible to tell definitively one way or the other . It might be like the 68 disc brake splash shields some were bare metal early in production but most were painted (better).It might also be that the bare metal version stopped in 67 altogether . If given the option painted is the best option IMO .