Originally Posted by Gary Fountain

Take your time - great advice.
Learn, learn, learn - great advice.

Learn about the steel - The 2 brands I stick with: Columbus (Columbus SL and Columbus SLX are good starting points) and Reynolds 531 (another good starting point). The frame material decal is usually found at the top of the seat tube but it can be found in other places.

Have a look at the Classic and Vintage thread. Look at other forum members bikes. Try to find a frame make that appeals to you. They can be broken down into countries (for example). You may like the look of Japanese built frames. Other major countries of manufacture include: Britain, France, USA, Italy. Personally, I like Italian frames/bikes. Get to know the frames from your country of interest - it doesn't take long but the range of manufacturers is quite large.

There are a number of component / groupset manufacturers. The two manufacturers that make a good starting point are Shimano (Japan) and Campagnolo (Italy). These two manufacturers have really dominated component manufacture since the 70's - Campagnolo 20 years prior to that. Their groupsets are constantly upgraded and knowing what preceeded what is an art within itself. I personally like Campagnolo from the 70's and 80's. Campagnolo's major groupsets from that era are: Nuovo Record, Super Record and (a little later) C-Record.

Do you know your frame size? Another important piece of information. Learn how frames are measured.

best of luck,

Gary.