Cylinder head cover question

[Par4pete]

The lettering on the cylinder head cover plate of my '96 has no paint.
( see picture )
I notice that some have the "DOHC - Vtec" letters red and some do not.
Is this the result of agressive cleaning or were some NSX's built like this. Looking at various pictures it doesn't seem to be a model year thing.
Is there a good paint to use to brighten it up?

 

[Tangoman]

Not sure about the paint, but no it was not intentionally made that way.

The correct term for what you are referring to is "intake manifold cover plate" - nothing to do with the cylinder heads.

 

[arista5]

take a good look look at the screws, see if it looks like it was ever removed.

at some point in the cars history it may have been swapped with a carbon fiber part or polished or something else. if it was the owner may have put it in a box or on a shelve and it rubbed the raised parts paint off? Just thinking of how it may have been rubbed off.

 

[Par4pete]

I've looked at pictures of a number of NSX's for sale and quite a few have no paint on the lettering.
Strange for so many to be like this.
I wonder is it a 3.0 liter vs 3.2 liter change.