If you are going to paint it, now is the time.
Paint it while it is a rolling shell, and then build it.
This way, you will avoid over spray on all those nice shinny parts.
I was going to wait on the paint. When I helped my friend restore his Chevelle, we did paint right after body work. I can't tell you the number of scratches that car got during the assembly process. Must have been hundreds. That being said, I did paint the engine bay before installing the front suspension. So, that part is done.
