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@Rik_Van_Looy
Agreed on the "shiny stuff and vintage paint" theory.
My only reasons not to do so are
1) cost - not sure how much it costs to chrome a stem, but my local electroplaters have a MOC of about £40 or something like that....
2) hassle of removing handlebars! The Maes bars don't have an integrated clamping bulge and are 24mm OD throughout. There's a steel shim to bring them up to the 26.0mm clamp, but the sleeve seems to have siezed onto the stem and I don't want to mash the bars getting it out!
Since this is a light touch approach I think I'll have a go at dealing with the rust with some of that phosphoric acid stuff you mentioned lecky - would you propose leaving the ferric phosphate (blue/black stuff) on the surface as protection, or rub it off to silver and cover it with something to stop the rust returning...
As you say, worst case is that it'll need to be removed, stripped and rechromed, but we can do it at a later stage.
The only other approach I'd been considering is a bit more naff....