Sheldon Brown:
Thank you for your reply and to everyone else as well. By the way, the bike is a 1980 Motobecane Grand Touring model. This morning I had my crank examined by a knowledgeable fellow who declared that what looks like a crack / chip in the spider bolt hole, is in fact a forging, or casting flaw and nothing to worry about, "Ride it and don't worry," were is words. I polished the bearing cups and axle, then purchased the best bearings I could find. I will throw out the bearing ring retainers as you suggested in your article. The crank flaw still makes me nervous, but it's not dangerous.
The painter finished today and I pick it up tomorrow (deep red with lots of orange). Now I'll pinstripe the lug shores yellow, to match the decals I had reproduced, and try to find tiny little rivets for the head badge. I will post pictures eventually, but I have a lot of polishing to do first on all this old aluminum and I have to build a set of 27" wheels for this thing. I would use 700's but the centerpull brakes will not reach that far, dang.
Sincerely,
Richard F. Long Temecula, CA
P.S. Just got back from a 600 mile ride up the coast on my 80's something KHS mountain / touring bike pulling a BOB (and breaking in a beautiful new, tan, Brooks B-17) that weighed wayyy to much and I need, yes, need a new touring bike.