Unfortunately I thought to ask this question a little late...I've painted 4 tubes already. They have a primer and finish coat...they look great. Sounds like I should have left them alone. QUESTION: Should I bead blast the paint off of leave them with the paint.

Just thinking and I don't think I can remember seeing them painted. Paint shouldn't hurt anything, as long as you didn't paint in the grooves where the o-rings go, which would almost certainly cause them to leak. You'll also lose some of the oil cooling from the tubes, but as long as it's a thin coat that shouldn't be much. And you may have some adherence problems. Depends on the paint, but I don't think most paints will adhere well to the zinc coating after a lot of heat cycles. And you can always replace them later if they start to look ugly. If you still care by then.