Materials: engine enamel (pep-boys or any other automotive store should carry it), glove, sand paper, plastic garbage bag.
1. Take off the 6 nuts that are on top of the valve cover, along with the plug wires.
2. Remove the timing belt / cam gear cover.
3. Remove the valve cover, flip it up-side down and set it down. Cover the engine with a plastic bag so nothing gets in the engine. If the valve cover is stuck, take a flat head screw driver and carefully pry up the edges.
4. Take the gasket and carefully set it down some where, where it wont get messed up.
5. Get some paper towels and clean up all of the oil on the inside of the valve cover.
6. Flip the valve cover right side up, and set it on some paper towels, remove the plastic and metal washers if they are still there (some oil will still drip down).
7. Begin to sand the valve cover. The sanding doesn't have to be perfect, its just so the enamel will better adhere to the cover. I went over it using a mesh thing, not sure what it was, but it worked good, and sanded easy. Wear a glove too. You want to sand the cover, not your fingers. A good 20-30 minutes should be all you need for the sanding.
8. Set the cover down in the grass and blast it with a strong stream of water, you can do it to both sides if you want, but the top is most important. Make sure any dust or junk that may be on the cover are gone.
9. Dry it with a towel, then a blow driver, make sure it is completly dry.
10. Set it down on a a piece of cardboard surrounded by a tarp.
11. Lightly set down a coat of enamel. a light coat of enamel can be thicker than a light coat of regular paint. it doesnt run very easy, and adheres much better.
12. Do 2 - 3 more coats with 30min intervals to make sure it is full covered and well done.
13. Let it sit and dry for about 4 hours.
14. Carefully flip it over and tap (with your fingers, or a towel) the gasket back into place.
15. Reverse step one, and re-install the valve cover. make sure it is firmly seated and the gasket is not damaged.
16. Thats it, your done and now have a great looking valve cover.