Thanks for all the comments. I'll get myself a Sugino RD ASAP, at aebikes ($53!!).

I don't feel bad getting all these parts, since they can all carry over to my "next" upgrade...probably a frame or so!

For the paintjob, I used steel wool and courser sandpaper to get rid of all the rust and smooth down the paint. It would have taken too long to remove it all, but some of it (maybe 15%) was removed anyway by the time everything was smooth.

I then used 3/4ths can of primer, wet sanded in between, and then put on half a dozen layers of orange paint. All paint used was the Rustoleum stuff. I then clearcoated it liberally.

I made one small mistake--I didn't get primer that specifically said it was made for sanding. I think this would have made it much smoother--my primer just kept coming off like powder when I did so. Oh well.

I'm pretty satisfied with the job, except that it gets nicks VERY easily. But I guess that can't really be helped..