She is back fro the paint shop now - its a metallic finish the shop calls titanium, and I even had the rear rack done as well.
Now my friend at the local bike shop advised me not to mask anything off - which means that although you need to remove paint from inside the BB and head tube, there will be no problems with rust later on. He actually chased the paint out of the BB for me and re-fitted the headset (thanks Carl!), leaving me with the painful job of removing the paint from the canti & shifter mounts. Paint stripper, wire wool and patience were needed, but I got there in the end. Should probably have masked them off, will do that next time. Dawes head tube badge re-applied, next stop will be Wheel Craft to see what bits I need to finish this build.
Powder coating seems to be the best option if cost is a consideration. The only hitch is that the colour choice in both the places I visited was very limited. Luckily the titanium finish I chose is a new finish they had made up for alloy wheels I think - its a metallic finish with a glaze of some sort - perfect for my old Dawes and good value too.
Al last the Galaxy is finished! Well nearly......all I need to complete this project is pedals....I was looking a SKS Sylvan touring pedals, but with the cost of clips & straps to add I though I would first put a shout out to Retro Bike members to see if anyone out there could hook me up with a deal as this project has gone way over budget. But up for trade is an SS rear wheel, which has never been used. Its a plain black hub with a black Alex rim - its never been mounted and actually I won it sometime back in a raffle so although I don't know who built it, it seems pretty decent.
Special thanks to Agency Scum for the gift of the lovely Suntour front mech. Holla me back if you have any nice retro pedals & straps that you may wish to sell or trade.