Priming steps?

I'm going to attach my steps to the fuse soon (hey, no snickering you taildraggers!), and wanted to know what people did to prep them. I haven't finalized my paint scheme, but will be a light silver base with deep red. The steps will likely be in the silver part of the fuse. So, for now, should I:
1) Attach but leave them unfinished for now?
2) Prime with ? (I have been using NAPA 7220 elsewhere but doubt if durable enough)
3) Powder coat and will be final color painted later.
Thanks

Primered

I just primered mine with self etching primer (rattle can from Autozone). Will worry about painting them when I paint the aircraft. Wanted to keep them from corroding in the mean time.

Carl,

Primer does not prevent rust, so hit it with some kind of paint also. RustOleum will work.

Better yet, since you don't know what color your plane will be, have them chromed.

Most important is to paint the contact surface that's going to be riveted to the fuselage. You can purchase zinc chromate in a rattle can.This will give you a dissimilar metal bond with low potential for electrolytic activity. You can prime the entire step, as already suggested, as the exposed surfaces will be stripped when the fuselage is painted.

Indeed

I didn't paint the contact face and when I went to sand some filler down and some water trickled on the step a nice rust stain came from behind the mounting plate...Great...wonder what its going to do when it rains?

I had to mask the edge of the plate and a 1/8th" bead around the edge of the plate on the fuse..I then filled this with proseal and pulled up the tape to leave a nice waterproof bead. This has stood up perfectly but it was a lot of work which could have been avoided.

If I ever build another one I will sandwitch proseal between the mounting plate and the fuse.

Frank

Steps

Carl,
I, too, would use some sort of sealer between the step and the fuselage. An A&P friend was very concerned about water between the surfaces. I used RTV, but I am sure there are many other options, such as ProSeal mentioned earlier. I would surely paint them with something at this stage. I did not paint mine, and they need to be cleaned and painted soon as they are showing a little rust. On the inside, I used AKZO for the tube inside the fuselage and inside tubing itself.

steps

I believe that the most durable finish, both fuse to step contact area and slipstream is a powder coat finish. My base colour is going to be white,
so white is the colour of my steps. (I had a chain link fence system powder coated fifteen years ago...it still looks fine.) So powder coat it is.
regards