The bike was pretty much complete. The original wood rims were shot, so I bought some Ghisallo's. The saddle which is a Persons or a early Brooks will be sent out to be rebuilt with new leather. I've managed to save just about everything else, even the chain (which was hours of work to get freed up)

The frame and fork were originally fully nickel plated, but it would have been a monstrous task to re-create that, so I'm having it painted a dark maroon red as they also came that way and in black. It will be box-lined in gold as well.

As for plating the races, the plater told me not to worry about it so I didn't. I guess it does not adhear to interior surfaces, and they just "flash" parts like the axles and cone-nuts, etc. Anyway, none of the bearing surfaces have any plating build up on them so I guess he knew what he was doing. As for the races themselves, they were all actually in great shape. The exterior of the bike was super rough, but the headset, pedal interiors, BB, etc were all in good shape and not pitted. Really the only reason I decide to to try and save it. If you had to replace all the mechanical parts it would take years to do.