Thank you to all the replies so far and for the nice welcome to the States! (and yes... MAJOR clash of accents. I can handle most if not all that I'm hearing, but I'm getting used to repeating things a few times, haha).

The advice about not wasting time with non-brand bikes... I'm using them as practice and I'm proud of how it's going so far, I don't expect to have a masterpiece at the end of the process, but it's in good shape to be looking as good as new, I just hope it runs that way too!

The grease/spoke/paint stripping suggestions are much appreciated and I'll be looking around for the best deals/shipping etc, so thank you for that.

I'm sure to be on here often from now, so thanks again for the advice and I'll possibly run into y'all again at some point!