I hate to burst everyones bubble but the mag. valve covers can not be chromed or power coated. I had it tried the power coating them but they hissed and and made popping noises while in the oven and came out with bubbles all over them. Any good chrome shop with not do them either because if they start burning well, you would see most of his shop or all of it go down in flames. I also tried polishing them and the came out great but after some miles they just looked like a grey ash all over them. I gave up.

 Well that' just mean.....

allan, i guess you'll try it anyway and then read this post when it doesn't come out right.

[QUOTE=eddie20890]allan, i guess you'll try it anyway and then read this post when it doesn't come out right.[/QUOTE]

i would imagine that there has to be a way to do it. if someone had it done then it can be. maybe it would have to be done professionnally. as far as i can tell rrobbo tried to do it himself.

Yea, I am going to go to a shop and talk to them about it. I figure they got the original color on there somehow... so gotta be a way to do something with it....

I just received the new Mid America Motorworks catalog. They have an OEM reproduction of BOTH L and R valve covers. Looks like a good option.

These are how my valve covers look.  I removed them, cleaned and degreased them, sandblasted them using coarse Black Beauty media, gave them a coat of etching primer form a spray can, then gave them several thin coats of the valve cover paint that MidAmerica sells that matches the original C4 valve covers.  I did this well over 10 years ago and have only recently touched them up while on the engine using the same can of paint I had originally painted them with.  I have put over 25,000 miles on the motor and they still look as good as the day I painted them. If you are going to take them off to replace them, I would opt for the restoration of the originals myself.  I just like to keep everything as original as possible.  Plus the cost of a can of spray paint is a lot less than the cost of those new repro covers.The Car Whisperer2010-09-26 14:27:28

That has a clean and neat look about it. Is it necessary to sand blast them to get that finish or could I just clean, sand, and prime them, then paint? I am not a professional painter but I am trying to learn, all I can about doing it myself.

For what it's worth this is a shot of the valve cover on my '86.  The passenger side has a little of that brownish color on it but it's probably something that a little elbow grease will take care of.  I just got this one a couple of months ago (my first 'vette) and I just plain love it.