Original Grill Repair

I have almost 10,000km on the car an in that time I've noticed the Moss grill I purchased, although decent fitting, is very easily scratched and after all the scrubbing I've been doing to remove bugs and debris I am some what disappointed in the chrome. The grill was hit by a rock at some point so it also has a small dent (better the grill than the paint I suppose). 

I received 2 grills when I purchased the MG, one is an aftermarket version that has a very noticeable dent on upper shell and the other is what I believe to be an (although beat up) original grill. I discarded both these choices and bought the Moss Grill.

I recently pulled the original grill down from the rafters of the garage to see if re-chroming would be an option.

It looked quite beat up, but after removing the inner slats and straightening out the center of the shell it didn't look so mistreated.

I wasn't certain that it was an original grill.
Original grills were made from chrome covered solid brass, and stainless steel slats held together with aluminum "rails" making up the grill it's self.
My understanding is that only the later reproduction grills have been made from brass and earlier ones were made from mild steel or even plastic. 
After the magnet test and scratching the back, I determined that this beat up grill is indeed solid brass.  The false nose and MG badge should also tell the story. The false nose, although twisted is also brass and the MG badge appears (according to the MGA GURU) to have all the markings of an original badge. J FRAY    LTD    BHAM  

I used a small rotary sander with a fairly aggressive grit to remove the chrome. And after a few hours gentle bodywork and a great many different types of dollies (including sockets and the ends of  larger wrenches). the soft brass began to take on it's original shape.

The next job was to remove any sanding scratches using 600 wet dry paper.

 Sanding scratches:

Sanding scratches removed: