Thanks for that, bikenut!
Rest assured, the flames of my interest have been well and truly fanned, espcially since I found and registered for this site. As noted in an earlier post, I'm in Dublin at the moment recovering after knee surgery so, when I get back, hopefully in two weeks time, I shall be able to get to grips with some fresh planning.
I spoke to the guy in the shop about getting it re-painted and, while it would be possible, it would be expensive to get it restored to original standard with all the masking required and so on. However, that's not to say it couldn't be done. In the meantime, I intend to use it alongside my tourer which is also my daily commuter and to have a look at re-establishing the 531c-tubed Raleigh Panasonic replica that is also in the garage but which is eqiupped with a mish-mash of bits (Dura-Ace brakes, Ernesto Colnago chainset, Campag hubs) which, while they are all from the 80's, are not all in serviceable condition.
But yes, I'll get to the proper cleaning and polishing when I get back!
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