first up, dont bother spending the extra for VHT paint, normal will be fine, inlet manifold wont be getting so hot that it needs any special paint

when i did mine, i just stripped it completely, and cleaned it up using thinners on red scotch, which removed most of the surface tarnishing. you wont really ever clean it up completely without blasting it though, so dont worry about a bit of crap left

i used an etch primer to make sure it adhered to the surface properly. then just base colour rattle cans, plus lacquer. oh and the face that mates to the head, i just used 2 inch masking tape across it and trimmed it with a knife to the right shape, then when i was done painting i went over it with 1500 wet n dry to clean it all up nicely




hope that helps