Thanks all. A few comments since there are a number of posts. Yes it is a big frame, not sure how big but IIRC it was the biggest frame you could buy at the time retail. I'm not that tall (185cm, 6'1" but have pretty long legs). I thought about doing the work myself but I do not have the tools or the time (or the work space).
The bike shop said $150 for labour + parts (the + parts has me more worried as there could be issues that are currently unseen as mentioned by a few)
I am 2500 from TO (I live in Nor Cal now)
Phil you are right about why I posted in the first place. While I am in (as) good a shape as I will likely be now the newer bikes seem to be a different breed and I wasn't sure about how to go about deciding on what to get. I'm not a kid and given my age and my knees (multiple surgeries) I am unlikely to ever ride more than casually anyways
They were nice to me on the Road Forum
and finally
You've never replaced the chain, overhauled the bottom bracket, or changed the brake pads in 30 years? Incredible...
PM's are overrated
When I made the first post I was leaning toward new but even before this posting I started trending back, this is only reinforcing that. It is a bike I'm very comfortable with, that I can currently even with the shape it is in, keep up with most riders on newer bikes and it's pretty comfortable to ride all in all. I will stop over at another shop tomorrow when I ride to work for a second option still. The 1st shop the mechanic is around my age (mid 50's) so I think he should be familar with older bikes (said he loved working on older bikes FWIW)