Well I painted the stem today, and so far it's turned out great. I found the most important thing in the process was patience. Here is a quick recap: I first stripped the chrome off with coarse steel wool and then lightly with some #300 grit sandpaper. Then I washed it really good and dried it while wearing rubber gloves, cuz I had em' around. To paint I used a coat hanger through the body of the stem with the end of the hanger bent up into the bolt holes (hanger was hung on the clotheline). I sprayed it about 6-10" from the stem to get light an even coats and allowed some drying time between coats to avoid runs. Worked like a champ! Thanks again all for the tips! Peace.

Oh yeah, to fill the bolt holes I did'nt have any candles for wax so I ended up using bread, yes bread compressed into the holes and worked perfectly!