Thanks all for the additional comments and suggestions. The hole only showed up after some work on the fork (if you look at some of the other photos you'll not see evidence of a hole) and appears to have been hidden by a flake of chrome. The light (which cleaned up nicely) was mounted up higher on the fork and there is a little dimple there from the mounting screw. It's definitely rust since once I saw it I tried cleaning it up a bit a more dusty rust came out.

[MENTION=366277]Slash5[/MENTION] - the tange fork I have is from Backpeddling - I live about 3 blocks away! Will look for a cooler replacement but the one I have is already the right size and the bend of the fork legs is close to the original. [MENTION=297217]bertinjim[/MENTION]: thanks for the reference!

Ultimate plan is a Sunday rider - mostly renovating it as an homage to my friends father who was the original owner. It won't get huge use once it's done....but still needs to be safe as it will not be a wall hanger.