I have a cx bike that has done fine duty for touring, but you should check the chainstay lengths etc to see if you will be able to have panniers on it without hitting your feet on the bags, especially if you are tall and have large feet.
also, does it have eyelets for racks?
will it be twitchy, everyones opinion of twitchy is diff
what size tires will safely fit in , as a very heavy guy, having larger tires will be a help to your wheelset (lower pressures, more suspension effect)
I would really get it looked at properly for headtube damage or whatever before throwing money at it. should have begun with that actually.
Not too tall at 5'8ish. But my heels tend to hit bags. Suppose that could be remedied by mounting the bags a tad out of heel strike zone or get smaller capacity panniers. I've got some Ortliebs I picked up last year for $80. Great for my Catrike Expedition, a PITA for my Dahon.
Will definitely check the head tube for any damage. Nothing visible from what I could see. And this Fantom CX was bought from an Amarillo transplant RN who just didn't have time to do any serious riding. Weirdly enough, he preferred his single-speed for his 20 mile commute. But he was a young buck too, so he could handle it.