I recently scored a free 1974 Deelite Apollo 10 speed. As far as I can tell, it has all original parts, but most of the stickers have faded out and there are a few places where the paint has failed completely on the tubes.
As a project bike, would you consider stripping and painting the frame, or simply replace what needs done (tires, bar tape) and ride it as is?
Well if you think you’ll have occasion to leave it locked up places, it might be an advantage for it to look old and beat up.
Oddly enough, I grabbed it for that very reason but once I got it home and had a good look at things I realized it was quite a nice bike with all original parts made in Japan and Switzerland.