[Arran]

Fred;
  That certainly sounds like a plan. From the before pictures it looks like one of those early 40's Brand Z models that had faux wood grain on the front pilasters, some had it on the grille bars too, and in this case it looks like someone already stripped it off and slobbed varnish over the entire cabinet so anything is game at this point. Being a bit of a an amateur wood worker I always found cabinets with large amounts of faux wood grain tacky, kind of like consumer electronics from the 1970s and 80s.
  I know that Brand Z certainly offered some cabinets with an all black colour scheme and chromed metal parts in certain years, but I think that they abandoned that practice by 1938, though the sets that had it looked to me as though they were just painted and not clear coated over. It should be interesting to see what a 1942 model will look like with a gloss black piano finish. I don't know if it would be cost prohibitive but you could probably get the metal parts chrome plated with actual chrome, I think that it was either pot metal or steel that brand Z used originally so it is doable.
Regards
Arran