Thanks for the tips. I'm partial to the look of dark wood rather than black finish, so may do the veneer thing that Formica suggests (great job BTW). We'll see how I feel once everything's stripped. Then the grill mods maybe as a final touch.
And yes, these were on eBay. Sheesh, you guys are good! The deal fell through, however, because they were a local sale (Bay Area) and the winner was in Florida and not willing to pay the hundreds of $ to ship. Oh well, guess I get to enjoy them awhile longer. Sell or keep, they need refinishing either way.