I met a guy a couple of years ago who is a little older than me and has done a lot more restoration than I'll ever attempt. I always try to glean some knowledge from these guys whenever I get a chance. He told me he had used lots of reproduction chrome and had good luck with it. He said the secret is to paint the back side of the part and make sure you seal the edge of the chrome. The idea is that the parts usually start rusting on the back side and it creeps under the chrome at the edges. I don't have enough experience to say that it works but I've painted the backside of my chrome parts just in case. I can't see how it could hurt.
