At the risk of being a wet blanket, I would advocate caution with respect to any instrument of that vintage, irrespective of the conditon of the paint. I remember an old hand in the vintage restoration circuit (not too long removed from the sphere of your involvement, I suspect, BeauMan - depending on whether you are involved with the Beaufighter projects based in Bedfordshire or Cambridgeshire),relating an anecodote concerning an instrument enthusiast. This chap was very keen and stripped and repaired old instruments. He kept them in the caravan in which he lived and eventually contracted some form of cancer. If in doubt,leave it out! I can only speak from the benefit of my experience as an EIR rated engineer with some experience of the vintage circuit.