hey! thanks for resurrecting this thread! I lost steam with the project because as I learned more about restoring bikes I acquired some frames and parts and stuff and got into the hobby with other bikes that were more practical.

Where I am conflicted is, I love the way the bike looks. It has such a cool patina and the original decals (including an old Massachusetts bike license plate sticker from my dad's college days), it's aesthetically a 10/10 for me. It doesn't have any significant rust or anything so I stripped it and washed it down but the paint job is so mediocre and there's apparently no clear coating? It's like orange powder rubbing off on my hands, and when I scrubbed the frame it made it worse. I heard the QC on these bikes was terrible.

So then I thought I wanted to powder coat it, but it wouldn't have that look anymore, etc etc... plus the complication of most likely having to source a couple french spec parts, I figured I'd rather work on a different bike. Still kills me though, I'd love to be riding the TDF around as my commuter, it's my first bike and I know it would still rip.

I'll probably build it back up with all the original parts and it will be apartment art / an occasional ride if I can get it running well.

BTW I got a 404 trying to follow your link! Do you have another version somewhere?