FW dilemma
Yesterday I posted about a FW I was gifted, bought by my BIL and SIL on ebay and sent directly to me. My original post asked about how to stop some blistering and flaking of the paint which I thought was mainly around the needle plate. After closer inspection, there are several spots where the black paint is chipped and you can see a white powdery surface. I am worried that this could be aluminum rot (been looking at pics of rot on QB and other sites). If I had purchased this machine myself, I would contact the seller and return it but my BIL in another state purchased it. I looked up the original listing on ebay (wasn't going to do that because I didn't want to know what they paid but I wanted to see if the damage was noted). The seller said "there are some slight imperfections in the finish which shouldn't affect the performance." They pretty much paid the average rate for a FW on ebay so it wasn't any great bargain and the seller has a 100% satisfaction rate with about 190 ratings.
For those of you who know more about vintage machines, will this continue to spread if it is aluminum rot or is it mainly cosmetic? How can I tell for sure? I opened the bottom and looked inside but I don't see any problems inside except for a little grime. This machine might be a candidate for repainting (I'm thinking a nice ruby red) but I would have to have that done by a pro. So my dilemma is: do I tell my BIL we need to return it or keep quiet and keep the machine? Any feedback would be appreciated.