I'm building up a utility type road bike for a friend and the base 'bike' is a 1970s Takara. Though it's an aside from my topic/question, the plan is to make a flat bar road bike using 27" wheels, modern(ish) road bike brakes, and a 14-speed gearing system. The bike appeared to be original in basically neglected, but not butchered condition. I have found two things disturbing (well, frustrating is a better word for it) in the build...

1. The steerer seems to have a smaller diameter than any other 1" I have...so I'm left with the original stem (maybe a French stem?) as the only option out of my vast parts bins where I'd hoped to find a stem that offered a bit more bar elevation. Is this a 1970s Japanese standard?

2. The fork dropout spacing measures about 91mm. What's up with that? Even the original wheel/hub needs some fork 'handling' to fit in it. Should I assume it's been compromised in some way or is a narrower than 100mm front spacing another 1970s Japanese standard? (I have other forks, but this one has has nice chromed lower arms and the right amount of aging to match the rest of the bike which is intended to look very unvaluable yet be practical and somewhat modern)

Just wondering. I'd rather not use a different fork, but I'm starting to wonder if I've stumbled into learning some kind of obscure Japanese bike standard that I'd never heard or thought of before I started on this build-up.

I'll post some pics of the project to complete out the thread...sorry to do y'all that way, I just had the question now and was hoping to make some headway on it later today....

thanks in advance