Best way to clean valve covers?

[hamonkeiser]

I wanted to clean up my stock valve covers while they're off the car. What's the best way to get all the baked on oil & grime off of them? I'm thinking about painiting them with High Temp Paint & want to make sure the paint sticks or if it's not to hard I might try to polish them. I don't have a dremmel so can I polish them by hand? How? or will painiting be the better way to go

Also post pics of your polished or painted valve covers so i can get some ideas

 

[stagevi]

buy a can of paint stripper or graffiti remover and drench them in it. let it sit and break all that stuff up for an hour (the can will say 20-30min). then use abrasive tools such as wire brush, scotchbrite, etc. the stripper breaks the bond and everything will slide right off. you might need a dremmel to get into the bolt holes and the lip.
you might not need high temp paint for them. i painted my buddys with a couple coats of regular grey primer and then with gloss black krylon spray paint. i put on about 5 coats and wetsanded between each coat. his mustang is a '68 and is not driven everyday. the paint has held up but it might not work for a daily driver in hot weather.