First of all 9 speed is not old - those are my newest vintage bikes. Sometimes you have to take the parts off one bike and match them with a frame you bought stand alone. I have seen this oppurnunity on ebay just about everytime I go looking. There have been lots of Italian frames available recently - and losts of nine speed groupo's on Cannondales and I saw one on a GT road bike recently.
The question you have to ask yourself how much work do I want to do and what do I want to spent. I am constantly asking myself the same question - especially two or 3 projects underway at the sametime.