I'm changing my vote. I am now against saving the frame/fork.
I looked at the photo of the rack; you're right, that's a cool item. But the same photo shows the bottom of the downtube right at the top lug, and: the paint is blistered and the frame is rusted. I'm almost 100% sure the frame is bent.
Yeah, that's been a concern of mine myself... it's odd, I seriously can't remember the frame being bent, but maybe that's because I didn't want to. ;-) I'm glad you pointed out that picture. I looked in other pics I have, trying to see if the frame was bent, and somehow, I missed this one. I opened up the original, and it is clearly "forced". :-(
Here's a question. I know that everybody writes off a frame that is bent in this location, but what is the genuine danger? Is it possible to have a catastrophic failure? or is it more likely to go slowly? I ask, because I had a friend years ago who slammed into a parked car (he was looking at his rear derailer at the time), and bent his frame worse than this--he rode the bike for 5 years with that bent downtube, and never had a single problem. Personally, I'm not too keen on learning on my own body with this frame, considering my Clydesdale weight, ;-) but I'm curious what the dangers of this damage is.
My brother lives in Berlin, and a few years ago he went to a bike store and bought a touring frame; it was basically a generic frame, made in some former-east-block country to his specifications, chrome-moly, and remarkably cheap. That's probably your best bet. Have your buddy ship you the parts you want off the Raleigh, and build up a new tourer.
If only.... Poland has become surprisingly expensive. We've had visitors from London, Frankfurt and even Scandinavia who have been shocked at how much more expensive things are here--but I may just start asking around about frame builders. Some things are still quite cheap here--including labor. Good idea.
Now, for the _real_ question.....
Anybody in the Wooster, Ohio (he's actually several miles west, off of US 30, I think) area who would be willing to strip this bike of its handlebar, shifters (don't need the stem), front rack and wheels (only if 700c), and keep the rest? I really don't know what genuine condition this bike is in, so I can't guarantee any of it, but you can have whatever is left. :-) Anybody crazy enough? You can PM me.
And once again, thanks everybody for your input/advice.
-Jon