Why tape or rmove chrome before paint

As with most vintage cars any money spent on " restoration" is never recovered - hence the old saying "buy the car and get the restoration for free". This applies to Ferrari's, muscle cars and our A-bodies too.
Look like a lot of expense put into interior and it might have been a well taken care of car. BUT the painted items that are normally chrome; bumpers, tail lights, misc. trim, really detracts from the value. Not sure when it was painted, might have been a long time ago, but it would have always been worth more with the original finish.
Yes a little masking tape would have helped a lot.