Dick, do you mean, the car is much easier to paint with them out? I repainted mine a while back (here’s the post), they’re holding up pretty well, although they need a touchup in some spots. But I would remove them, if there’s a risk they might get flashed with overspray.
BTW, my roof rails were rechromed - I think I may have gotten painted rails from John Fowlie, so there was little corrosion. Ed Ober provided some very decent door rails I had rechromed.
Dan