can you use normal paint on it or do you have to use the high heat stuff or something else?

not sure about the paint side of it but have you thought of powdercoating?

get it powder coated, itll last forever and it real cheao too. or you could go mega cheap and get the 'oh yeah its looks pretty alright' look and do what i did and use a rattle can of hammertone silver paint, used it on all of my tinware and i never had any troubles with it

i used the heatproof stuff, but will be powdercoating next time round

this is my motor when i bought the car... it had been transplanted out of a blue car...

this is what my motor looks like now after powdercoating.

another shot

i had the lot done together... all tinware, rocker covers, alt & crank pulleys, oil filler and tube, fuel tank, steering arms. cost of just over $120 and done in 24 hrs.
All you need to do is sandblast the bits clean so the powdercoating comes up ok.
It took me about 1.5hrs to sandblast all the pieces.

I personaly run heat proof paint just incase, but there's really no need to. I've had powder coating done in the past and it looks great and wears well, but as soon as you get a chip etc, you can't blend it in very well using a presure pack for touch ups.

Thats my 2 cents.