Nomad, sounds like an interesting bike that's for sure. I get the emotion thing, I certainly wouldn't have gone your route but i too have an old bike that I keep purely for emotional reasons....
years ago I thought of changing stuff, but in the end I just left it as is, and used it on my indoor trainer for years during our Canadian winter. Still is sitting on the trainer but I commute in winter now, so it just sits there....
Anyway, interesting project you did.
Cheers