I found an old SuperCourse Frame in pretty bad condition and used it as a learning experience as well. It became my first opportunity to powdercoat, and completely build a bike. Here are the frame and fork before:

You can't see real well in the photos but the chrome was bubbling and peeling at the dropouts, and there was rust around the bottom bracket. Someone had started to rattle can the fork.

Here's what it looked like after the sandblasting and powder coat.

At that point I was just over a hundred bucks into the bike, and after it's buildup it's one of my favorites.