I got it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As it was my last day with the rental car, I drove out to western Maine this morning, met the guy and his wife, and picked up the bike. It's original, it's complete (down to the original strange sidewalled tyres) . . . . . . . . . and baby is this going to be a winter project.
We're talking the kind of teardown most of you would do for a '70's Colnago, not a $100.00 French equivalent of whatever the model was called under the UO-8 (painted forks). I've got my winter project at hand. We start with de-spoking the wheels to try and clean up the rims (I'm surprised they're not 27x1-1/4 Rigidas, which was what all the bikes we were getting at the shop came equipped with).
Oh yeah, Steve's son works at a bike co-op in Toronto. Steve says he may have access to a Favorit frameset for me.
Pictures to follow once I get home next weekend. Otherwise, having a wonderful time riding the area on the Trek 460 (Orono is home to UMaine, so you can guess the bicycle culture).
Now that the fun part is done, tomorrow I start going through the late father-in-law's shop and figuring out what I a. Want to take home, b. Have room for in the shop. Definitely claiming the drill press, two grinders, table saw and bandsaw (the wife's already been warned they're going into the gardening shed, er, temporarily), and and all Dremel gear, taps, dies, and two worktables. That should give me the heavy stuff I need for future projects.