I was happy to receive a response from Gita today to my question about the age of my Eddy Merckx frame, and other info. I sent in the serial number and they replied that it is a 1985, but cannot tell me which model, has an Italian BB, braze on FD and a 1 in threaded headset.

Thanks for the help with this, pointing me in the right direction, and thanks to the folks at Gita.