How important is originality to a vintage bike? Is it like a car or motorcycle in that every part that is not original detracts from the value in a big way? I have a 1973 CCM Silver Ghost that I am going to be fixing up as my winter project. I am the original owner. The godawful original nylon seat never made it out of the dealership. I also replaced the cheesy steel cage pedals with some aluminum Atom's in the first year I had it. It also came with an steel stick for a seatpost and one of those funky looking clamps that grabs the post and the seat rails. Seat posts like are common now were pretty darn pricey back then. The steel stick is now rusty and uglier than it used to be. Am I going to drop the value of my bike by putting a decent post on it or should I just clean up the steel one?

If you will not ride the bike and just display it, you might want to be as original as possible when choosing your components. But if you do plan to ride the bike regularly, you should update some components that might be considered questionable when it comes to safety and reliability (drying out leather saddles, pedals or maybe even brakes). You might also want to remove and preserve any "unobtainium" super rare (and usually super expensive) parts that will be impossible to replace if they wear out or break.
JMOs

Chombi
84 Peugeot PSV
85(?) Vitus Plus Carbone 7

Some things on bikes, are like air filters and lightbulbs on cars - replacing them won't hurt the value much. Sure if the originals are there and mint, that is always better - but you expect some things to end up getting replaced (like seats).

I don't think replacing the seatpost is going to negatively effect the value.

Yep, if you don't like a particular original part (probably with good reason), just put it aside for the time being and enjoy riding the bike with the part you prefer to use. If you ever want to show or sell the bike with original parts, just reinstall the parts you took off and put aside.

I look at it this way: I always want to find a vintage bike that no one else has mucked with, that way I can make those all important choices.

Most of us in CV undoubtedly feel similarly when it comes to a nice or super nice bike. I have a beautiful 68' Peugeot PX10 that is 100% original. I have disassembled and restored even the (gasp) Delrin Simplex derailleur. I will ride it only occasionally, but will maintain it's originality for future owners. That's how antiques become antiques: they survive.

Another bike is a nice 60's Dawes Realmrider. Very uncommon. Wheels were steel and completely toasted. Built new quality wheels using the original hubs. Kept the look and added functionality. (Even kept the unusual colored wheel disc... a lot of people would have tossed that)

Other bikes... who cares... they are for daily riding and need to function before anything else.

So ask yourself this: Will some young person in the future covet that bike? If so, keep it original.

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This is true, but more to the point, just KEEP THE ORIGINAL PIECES.

Anything removed with a dremel tool or a sandblaster, or put on with a torch or a spray gun, cannot be undone, but ANYTHING bolted on, whether it's a seatpost, or a bottom bracket, or a crank or a wheelset, or WHATEVER, can always be removed by a future owner, and restored with the original pieces you've kept on the shelf.

Putting on new pedals, a decent seatpost, and a working seatpost clamp will have basically no effect on the value of your bike, since anybody with a wrench and 20 minutes can remove them and put the old stuff back on.

Working pedals and a nice looking seatpost will make your bike a lot more fun for you, so put them on and go ride the heck out of that bike.

There are several things in play here:

a. originality

b. value = (i.e. resale price)

c. functionality

d. context

As far as resale price is concerned, originality about 95% of the time, brings more value (the other 5% of the time is for the rare occasions that someone decides to put a full super record gruppo on a Varsity, or a Corvette engine and transmission on a Vega). That said, that lack of originality makes the particular bike (see previous example) more functional and thus more desirable = higher resale value. Which brings the discussion to the real meat of the equation: context. It really all has to do with what you have to start: If you have a top of the line bike, if it is original, it has much higher resale value; if you have a Huffy, no matter how much you polish it, it will remain a Huffy... but you might enjoy it more