It can be dear but that all depends on the condition - To answer your first Q can you polish it up - That again depends on the condition - If its peeled - or rubbed off leaving the nickel below (a dulish silver with a tint of green) then no you cant polish it up. If the chrome is still in tact then you may be in luck - Try a good restorers polish from say english custom polish, you can google them they now trade as brilliantpolishes.co.uk. They do good chrome polish. If your very brave you cud try mopping it up - but ve sure to use the right compounds and go easy - the chrome will polish off leaving the nickel below.
Best bet is to take some images and send them to a chromer such as Ashford Chroming http://www.ashfordchroming.co.uk (
[email protected]). I had my primary cover done - they stripped and triple plated it. It turned out a treat. They do a postal service and are very helpful.
I have had bits done before and it's much cheaper to chrome parts that were chromed as opose to chroming casings that are blasted or rough finish as they need a lot of polishing work.
There number is 01233 660879 i dealt with Louise