Umm hmm!! I went through all of the same things with my 66, which has a painted center! Painted, yes, but what color??? I painted one body color, one body color with the matching stripe, one silver and one 20% flatted black, and installed every one and did the old school mock up, you know, sitting back with a cold one and staring at them!!! In the end, the flatted black won the day and I painted the brace behind the grille flat as well!!