Here’s the state of it as I have been riding it today, with the new pedals, wheels, chain, cassette.
Let me know if you think the yellow hydrant successfully brings out the beauty of the lettering on the bike.
I think this picture, in the shade, illustrates how the bike tends to look grey and not silver when the sun isn’t hitting it directly. Also, notice how light grey metallic paint doesn’t go well with actual polished metal. (The original wheels had black rim brake tracks.)
While I wait for the shorter-height quill stem, I decided to try out the existing one in a configuration that’s more like what the handlebars appear to be designed for. Previously (above) the bars were rotated so that the part between the flats and the hoods was horizontal. That was pretty comfortable but pretty ugly. Now the bars are rotated forward so that the bottoms are about level with the ground. This definitely looks a lot better and provides more variety in how upright vs. forward I want to be. I rode this for a while with various tweaks but it doesn’t seem to be the right configuration for me. Either I have no weight on the hoods, or a lot; there’s no way to distribute my weight between the bars and the hoods. I hope this is a matter of developing more core strength and getting better at distributing my weight on the bike.
When I am riding around town on the tops, I now need a significant lunge downward to hit the brakes. If I can sort out the weight distribution thing then I would solve the latter problem with interrupter brakes. I am going to ride some more and then decide whether/how to replace the bars.