Paint Bell Housing Cover?

I have rebuilt and painted the engine from my CJ-5 project, and I'd like to get the bell housing spacer plate and inspection cover ready.

I see that from the factory the exposed areas were painted the engine color with the rest left bare metal, but this was not possible when I painted the engine as I did so while it was mounted on an engine stand.

Is it advisable to paint the entire piece? I'd like to protect all the metal, but I wouldn't want flaking paint to potentially interfere with the clutch etc.

 

With the metal properly cleaned, there should be no reason for paint to flake off. I often use a zinc chromate primer, especially over aluminum, then topcoat of Rustolium, all aerosol spray cans. The zinc I use takes a couple days to cure before topcoating. You can probably just use the Rustolium straight over the prepped parts.
-Donny