Originally Posted by jimmythefly
6. Find bike at thrift store or garage sale or in dumpster that you can get the wheels off of.
^
+1. You might get lucky and snag a pair of 27" wheels built with aluminum rims - you'll get considerably better braking out of 'em then steel (provided steel is what you have in there right now).
One other alternate idea would be to keep the original rims (provided they aren't toast either), and build up with a cheap pair of hubs and new galvinized spokes. It'll look ugly in half a year, but it'll hold togehter better then corroded spokes and rusty spoke nipples.
Take care,
-Kurt