Over winter break from school I was at my friend's house - my second family. I noticed what I later found out to be her dad's old bike (parents originally from NYC - he used to ride a smidge). I joked about how he should give it to me so I could make it into something purdy instead of a dirt collector. It's spring break and he had me come pick it up so I could love on it and make it my own haha. I have two questions.
1) How the crap can I figure out the date on it? I've been googling to no avail. On the bottom is
MODEL NO. 8195-9
2) I'm gonna take the next couple months to make this baby fiiine. I'm debating between making it straight fixed or if I should go with the flip-flop hub (for that reason I'll probably go with the latter). I wanted to know everyone's opinion for parts they think are delightful on their current fg - any reccomendations anyone wants to give me while I'm shopping around. Also, any bike detail painting ideas/tips.

Thanks in advance for any help


// also, any extra information on this brand would be swell.