This is going to be a really nice bike. Congrats on an enviable find.
A couple of suggestions — my 2 cents worth:
* Before you go further, get the frame checked out. You could "string it up" before hand. (See randyjawa's
My Ten Speeds site. He has a primer on checking out frame alignment.) When the shop aligns the rear dropouts, they can center the stays without delay and save you shop time. (I have not had a frame yet that has come to me with aligned drop-outs. )
* WNG wrote:
Chasing after NOS vintage parts can get very expensive.
+that! So if you are feeling the pinch, you might keep this in mind. New production retro parts if anything are more rife on the ground than in preceding years.
Nitto produces some very nice retro parts.
Shimano has freewheels made in China under contract. They are cheap, reliable and light. The cog tooth counts are decidedly for the amateur — not vintage racing — which is fine for this old fart. Shimano has a lever set that is not part of a group set —
BL-400. Aero (of course), return spring and excellent gums — and inexpensive. The
Dia-Compe catalogue has some nice parts. Some people may sniff at this, but if I am going to build a mish mash and optimize each piece for dollar value return, Dia-Compe stuff is an option. (Eg. The Dia-Compe
BR-101 brakes in high finish alloy are on my SS Simplon. They perform very well, are inexpensive and they look right on the vintage frame. Pro Keirin racers use them on their road trainers here in Japan.)
Velo Orange has some excellent parts.
Actually, I think as you do — the complete group of 600 Arabesque to build up my Woodrup (531c) would make me a happy dude indeed. But I just cannot afford it.
* In March I checked out a bike shop that my daughter's boyfriend is familiar with — in Vancouver, my hometown. I may have the card somewhere, but it is on Main between Hastings and Alexander on the west side. I met the owner/proprietor. Nice guy, and he
should know his stuff as he has some really first rate frames hanging up around the shop. I had to get out of there before going insane! Another shop that impressed me is a new place on Hastings — south side east of Nanaimo. Hope I have that right. The owner did a small job for me. He seemed a serious dude — not some tinkerer pretending to be a mechanic.
* Some model enamel should patch up those scars in the paint. Metallic blues are not that hard to come by. Just make sure its enamel. There are ranges of model paints these days that are sold cuz they are safer for youngsters to use — waterborne acrylics and so on.
Please keep us posted on this build.