Here's another update.
I'm painting the base feet with some deep red mahogany toner lacquer.
I had thought that the faceplate was nailed on, but it was actually small screws bent at crazy angles. With a little effort and some needle nose pliers, I got it off. Much easier to work on the cabinet now
The faceplate is one big hunk of aluminum with a decorative painted grill on top and photo finish on the bottom.
That black strip was probably overspray from the factory. I'm not going to mess with it. It's barely visible when it's all together.
That photofinish was starting to flake off. So, I carefully clean it with mineral spirits and gave it a few coast of clear semi-gloss lacquer to stabilize it. It turned out well.
Finally, I'm using Deft semi-gloss on the main cabinet. Once that's done, I just need to touch up the black trim around the faceplate.
