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...is there some reason to distrust the conclusion reached over on the CR group site ?
The fork looks relatively distinctive. I know little or nothing about Schwinn's from that era.
I would not remove the PC, it is a pain to accomplish. You can paint right over it with thorough roughing of the surface and a good 2 part urethane primer, then go with whatever color and decals you want, with a clear urethane top over that. Works out OK, I've done it once on a bicycle here and have noticed no problems thus far.