fork questions

[cardojr]

I'm doing the front end on my 68 berkshire and noticed that some of the chrome is flaking on the tubes.It seems to be very minor with the flakes being about 1/8" at most. This bike will be lightly ridden-is this going to affect my sealing or is it just an embarassing eyesore? I believe it should be covered with boots anyway. Other than rechroming or replacing, I do have the option of using some tubes that are 1-1/8" +/- longer (I'm metrically challenged). The original tubes are 22-1/8" long-the donor tubes are 23-3/8" long. Does anyone know of any issues with longer tubes into my original lowers or with fork boot fit.
thanks-rob