I spent considerable time bead blasting mine to remove all the old black coating. Much of it had already flaked away or came away easily, yet in places it was thick and stubborn. I also spent many hours fabricating a new breather oil separator to fit inside the valve cover to replace the plastic one which was breaking up. Only the earlier metal oil separators are available seperately as a spare part and unfortunately they do not fit the later version valve cover. But this is getting off the subject.

I repainted the valve cover using a spray can of high temperature engine enamel. Being thinner than the original coating it does not hide the imperfections in the casting as well but it still looks OK. I also elected to use a different colour. Usually I like to keep things original but I thought the black was a bit dull. I have a pic but it is too large to post here. You can see it at:
http://www.benzworld.org/gallery/pics/W201_49666.jpg

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107.023: 350SLC, 3-speed auto, icon gold, parchment MBtex (sold 2012 after 29 years ownership).
107.026: 500SLC, 4-speed auto, thistle green, green velour.
124.090: 300TE, 4-speed auto, arctic white, cream-beige MBtex.
201.028: 190E 2.3 Sportline, 5-speed manual, arctic white, blue leather.
201.028: 190E 2.3, 4-speed auto, blue-black, grey MBtex.
201.034: 190E 2.3-16, 5-speed manual, blue-black, black leather.