I would not chrome the dropouts. I dislike the added thickness of a SS plate sandwiching the OEM steel faces. I have seen drop out faces with just the primer and when fresh this looks neat. But like the color coat, the primer will just be scraped off. I've also seen the faces left bare and that can also look cool.

The drop outs are pretty thick and even a serious surface rusting won't effect their safety, maybe have the adjuster screws freeze in place though. I would not be concerned about minor surface rust but I do suggest pulling any dropout adjusting screws and clean/chase the drop out threads and lube those threads after the paint job is done.

BTW does your Serotta have a pump peg made from a nail? I've seen a couple early ones that did Andy