I've given myself a couple of months to obtain and refurbish the missing parts before assembly.
I have the decision on what finish and paint to put on it. I don't want to spend silly money on a £20 frame, fortunately the Record Ace 12 is a very simple job it seems. 1 colour and a few decals.
A friend of mine can blast and powder coat for £45 any colour (mates rates) - he's done wonders on my other 531 frame (another rescue rusty wreck - now my daily commute). Decals bond on either - and I think Record Ace 12 decals are readily available. That's the cheap option - but slightly more limited in colours. A quick eBay tells me I could get most of the missing bits with the same spec or similar from the same era. I'm looking at a budget of maybe £259 over a couple of months for a complete bike.
If I get a really good spray job I can add a significant amount more onto that - but for a more authentic finish. I'm not going to choose until I've priced a few options and looked at getting some Fern Green paint - I don't suppose anybody knows where to get Raleigh colours?
It's hard to know what to do really isn't it?
One things for certain - I'm going to make a bike out of this using components of the same era to as near the same specification as I can. I already have most of them - missing a few important bits though.