Well over 50 years ago, I had a set of badly-corroded metal valve
seats.  My mentor, Mr. George Binder (who once worked at Aeolian
American), always had the troublesome corroded brass valve seats
nickel plated.

I was young at the time and did not have the funds for nickel plating,
but tried something different.  I removed the metal valve seats, wire
brushed away the corrosion, and spray painted them with Rust-Oleum,
a rust preventive paint that is still available.

I always signed my name on the inside of the chests.  Recently a player
technician was working on the player, found my name, and informed me
that the valve seats are still painted and in perfect condition.

Bruce Clark