Have the machine shop guys press your cam bearings in and install new oil galley plugs and freeze plugs. It just saves you the hassle of doing it yourself. Also, while you're at it, you'll probably need to have them press your new pistons onto your rods and recondition the rods. So here's something to think about: some shops like to have the pistons on hand before they bore the block. If you take the block in they can inspect it and can tell you how much they're going to bore it. Then you can go get your rebuild kit with the appropriate size pistons, and take the pistons, rods and cam bearings from the kit to them before they begin work on your block.
As for the paint... I painted mine with navy blue Krylon. A couple coats of bare metal primer, three coats of gloss and it looks great. That paint has held up very well, too.
Matt