I had previously used a high-load zinc shiny silver paint to make the old vents look better. It looked decent but didn't hold up to the heat coming out. After washing that off with lacquer thinner, I could see the beauty of the original silver on the vents, looking great while the liquid thinner was on it. As soon as it evaporated, they went back to looking dull again. I could have put clear on them to get close to the factory look, but decided to go with hammered silver this time. The clear had already proven that it couldn't take the heat. Surprisingly, the hammered silver paint is a fair color match. It appears to be more of a match in person than it does in the photo. It looks like it belongs. In the photos is the hammered silver, not the hammered gray like I had used on the coil covers (that paint is holding up great in that hot engine environment).

 

Those are interesting looking--kind of like an industrial appearance!

Doug