I am going to swap the engine and tranny in my 90 SSE and change all of the gaskets and seals while I'm at it. Problem is that the enamel on the valve covers is chipping off and the engine is filthy. What should I do before i paint? Is sandblasting everyting ok? My biggest concern is that the paint will fall off. (I will use high heat paint) Also, Im am thinking that RED would look good, any color suggestions?

crimson red

I'd say do a classic pontiac 400 color that rebuilders do. Red works. Or the classic GM orange.

Do the valve covers in some nice color too