A few more pics. I wanted to get a couple more pics for the build process, but I didn't think anyone would be interesting to watch tires going on and all that. The key elements to this build are the adaptations to the basket mounting, and the DIY steering stabilizer.
Here it is in all its glory. Schwalbe tires, Continental tubes (I like 'em better), and new cables all around. New SRAM shifters too - exact replacements (3x7). I got lucky!
The bike handles very well, even with the baskets mounted. I especially like how the front basket sits way lower than the stock Wald configuration. The steering stabilizer is made up of a hardware store extension spring and pieces of the rack hardware that I cut off. After a bit of use, I can definitely tell that the spring needs to be a little more stout. Perhaps one with a bit more tension, and a lot less length.
This is the basic configuration of the spring. It provides some measure of steering stiffness, but its not enough to prevent the front wheel from flopping over when the bike is at rest. No biggie. I have a whole drawer full of springs with which to experiment.
The rear baskets, mounted to the Blackburn rack is very solid. This bike - so far - makes not a single rattle when riding. I've got the basket temporarily secured with 5 zip ties. I may have to make a couple proprietary clamps of my own design to hold these two racks together.
So far a decent ride. I pay ride it to the supermarket this week, and see how it handles the task. I still need to add a seat bag, a bottle cage, a kickstand, and a handlebar mount for my GPS. I hate these particular Planet Bike fenders, so they'll be on my list for an upgrade soon. I got them on okay, and they are as straight as I can get them, but ultimately they are cheap plastic. I've had a couple bikes with the planet Bike aluminium mudguards, and those are quite nice.
I'll report back when I do a grocery trip!