Mine are powder coated. Definitely nicer and more durable than painting. They were done after initial fitting and the shaft inside the fuselage left bare so the thickness of the coating would not interfere with sliding them into the fuselage. That part was greased and shows no sign of corrosion after 8 years. I'm still in construction and have probably used them more than I would while flying to step into the fuselage and such. After coating, I trimmed pieces of tread grip tape to fit on top as shown in the picture. I wish I had done this on the RV-6A.