Ok as promised on to the next part - the mistake.

Well I was feeling pretty good after the sushi and my confidence was high after pressing that head set in, so I thought I would give the crown race a go. For those that don't know, the crown race is the bottom most part of the headset that gets pressed on to kind of a shoulder on the fork. I only say this because I had no idea how all this worked until I actually started doing it, so if my experience will help anybody else it could save some aggravation.

The crown race is that brass ring on the tube of the fork (it's supposed to be pressed all the way down to the shoulder):



Anyway, to make a long story short, I'm pretty sure I tweaked the crown race trying to press it on to the shoulder. I'll save the specifics but I tried some internet suggestions to no avail. No doubt this is where experience and the right tools come in to play. Just to be safe, I ordered another crown race ($10) and I will take it to the shop to have somebody who knows what they are doing install this.

Moving on...so far so good on the other components-

Shimano Sora triple crankset:



In researching components for this frame I found that the bottom seat tube braze-on can be an issue with some front derailleurs in that they need to be mounted very close to the braze-on or even over the opening, causing some to file the braze-on as well as making bottle cage mounting difficult. I ended up choosing a Shimano LX top swing derailleur. This seems to allow enough clearance and no issues with interference.

Front derailleur:



To my surprise the frame came with a derailleur hanger. I had planned on ordering one but didn't know what to order so this saved me the hassle.

Rear Deore XT derailleur:



FSA seatpost & Woodman seat clamp:



Here's how I'm working on it for the time being:





I think one of those Park repair stands is in my near future.

And of course, the garage door shot:



So far, save for the crown race issue, I'm happy with how all the parts are coming together. Next week I should be receiving the 9-speed cassette and chain.

Thanks for looking!