To Powder Coat... or not to Powder Coat

I'm fixing up a 1976 Kawasaki motorcycle. I currently have one of the aluminum engine covers off and I'm trying to decide how to clean it up. It is oxidized, scratched (a lot), and gouged in a couple places. Basically, it shows its age.

(Option 1) Put some elbow grease into it and do some wet sanding

or...

(Option 2) Have it powder coated

I have limited experience working with metal, so my guess is that wet sanding will help with the scratches, but leave some of the discoloration.

My question is, how much will powder coating conceal the scratches? I know it won't do much for the gouging. I'm just trying to determine if it is worth it. And if I do powder coat, that means that I'll probably want to powder coat the other 3 engine covers as well. So I have to consider that cost when determining if it's going to be worth it. Fortunately, powder coating is relatively inexpensive. Otherwise, I don't know if I would consider painting immediately. I would probably just put it back on and paint at a later time when the bike is getting toward a more "complete" stage.

Thoughts?

I had my frame powdercoated and it really didn't
completely cover the scratches, and I wonder how
tuff it really is. I took my covers and followed
the advice for cleaning, buffing and polishing
elsewhere on the site and they looked
very good and I have to still finish them (riding
season is here).It's a bit of work but is cheap and
looks good.

Garry

A good coater can make them look perfect. They use a Red Oxide powder primer (this takes care of imperfections on the metal after blasting)and then shoot them again in a regular powder color. The work some of these guys do is unreal. But if the gouges are too deep your out of luck, best thing to do is have a powder coater look at them.