Hi
Chevy Early Instrument Cluster out of both my `41 Pat 12 and `42 Pat 13 Chevy CMP have the commercial instrument groups neither of the bezels appeared to have had any chrome both were painted and may have been lightly galvanized like the rest of the unit.
I have seen these early instrument clusters in unrestored civilian Chevys of the same forties that were painted as well.
Checked the old civilian parts book to see if there was a notation of chromed or not and it didn't show anything different.
But as chrome was expensive I don't believe they would have bothered to chrome and then paint. At the same time I would not be surprised to find a CMP with a chromed cluster that had been painted. Given using off the shelf parts was common production practice.
Hope this Helps
Cheers Phil
Here is my `42 Pat 13 instrument panel as found.
