Yes, the actual top portion where the pan support thingies sit does appear to be stainless, as well as the drop down cover that goes over the whole mess. But neither of those are anywhere near as grungy as the rest of this stuff. Those parts could likely be cleaned just fine with an all purpose surface cleaner.
I was referring to it as a cooktop, as that's how they all seem to be described at places like Camping World when I was looking at buying new stuff. A stove or range appears to include the oven underneath, which I don't have room for right now without a significant redesign of the entire camper unit inside. Whereas these surface mount drop in styles are called cooktops. I don't know if that's right, but that's how I saw them advertised, so that's what I went with :P
My thinking for painting is for future ease of cleaning, as well as to halt any further corrosion of the panels, as I figure even if I do decide to replace with new components it likely won't happen until the winter when things cool off a bit here in the southwest desert but the heat won't keep me from enjoying nature :)
