ya go for it man...it will make you smile in the end and that's what is all about.
I just finished restoring a Chicago Schwinn and it turned out very good IMO. I took it down to the metal and painted her candy red. I bought my paint from Pete at
http://www.hyper-formance.com who restores mostly sting-rays. It was a long process of repainting so just paying a c-note for powdercoating is a very good route.
Anyway, here are some pics of my restore and good luck with ur project!