There are photos in my album. I'm sorry I can't post them inline here yet.

So, I am going through my new-to-me Fuso, circa 1989 (Columbus SLX, 600 tri-color.) It's a low mileage example, from all external indications, and it has clearly slept indoors for most (or all) of its life. The headset needed attention, though. It's Campy (Record, I believe.) It felt rough, but not indexed, so I figured I just needed to clean and re-pack it. I opened it up and scraped the 33-year-old grease out to discover that the bottom cup and the bottom cone are both scored (I guess you'd call it scored) by the balls, lined up to how they sit in the cage. The top cup and cone are fine. At first I was confused, since it wasn't really indexed to center and the bike has low miles. Then I realized that the first thing I did was to pull off the aero triathlon bars. The previous owner probably put a lot of weight on the front end (specifically, the bottom end of the headset) during those miles.

So, what do I do? I have grease and loose balls for the re-pack, but is that a mistake? I don't plan to ride the bike (it's too small for me.) I will sell it one day (once I find a Fuso in my size, I suppose) and I doubt the next owner will ride it much, either, being such a nice, vintage specimen. I don't have the tools to deal with extracting and replacing the cup and the cone and I'd rather not spend much more money on parts than I have already (esp. after correcting for the custom wheels.) I guess I'm looking for validation that this is going to be OK before I just put it back together. The loose balls shouldn't line up to those divots. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Does anyone have experience with this condition? If I cheap out, I'm somewhat increasing the likelihood that someone else will be forced to replace that headset down the road. Aside from parts availability (and a little bit of labor), am I risking anything other than having to live with the nagging knowledge that the headset is a little banged up inside?

Thanks in advance for either a "pack it and stack it" or a "don't you dare" vote, with or without elaboration.

Gregor