Great bike and story. Now forget the hoods. I discovered that wrapping the levers with cloth tape followed by shellac works great and holds up well. This photo is with tape over damaged hoods, but it will work fine right on the levers. BTW, I redid these later and ran the tape to the bottom of the hoods to connect with the bars.
Thanks RFC! Glad you liked the bike + story.
You have a good economical idea there.