Don't let the stem stop you. You can find them on ebay, I picked one up for a Mt Hood project. There were millions of bikes that came with that stem size, not just bottom end ones either.

+10 Don't kid yourself on price. It is worth the $350 asking price. Some collector will eventually snag it. If it is what you want, I say go for it, cash in hand, and maybe you get a small discount.

Nice vintage chrome bikes are hard to find.

You can also put this bike on a diet. First is the heavy steel stem and bars. Second are the heavy tires. Third are the heavy wheels. Since you are resourceful, you could probably cut FOUR pounds or more off the weight attacking these items.