[Arran]

I found a spray paint that even I was impressed with that really is very close to chrome plating or a very highly polished aluminum , the dial frame , band selector wheel and dial pointer will be chromed using that paint. The 10s669 zenith are very common and this one was already jacked up so I want to do something deferent and yet keep the antique radio look. I would have not been doing this to a good original. I got the primer from work, they were ok with that and all I have to buy is the black lacquer base, I have all the other stuff i need, so it really wont cost to much to do this except my time.

Fred;
  In my opinion those sets don't even look that good when the original finish is in good shape, and if it's trashed or stripped off you really only have so many options as to what to do with it. The wood under it is just some sort of bland white wood without much grain, probably cheap poplar, so about all you can do is paint it, cover it with veneer, or put another faux finish over it. Normally you could use wood dye or tinted lacquer on such things but  it looks like 1/2 the front end of the cabinet is made of this wood. Like I said before it should be interesting to see what it looks like in the end, especially this spray paint you mentioned, I may have to try this on a cheap piece of furniture sometime, it will certainly look much better then that chalk paint the middle aged women use to ruin vintage furniture.
Regards
Arran