I know I weighed in on this earlier but it just came to me. We need not worry about such "modifications". I hear there is a group out there that is dedicated to finding such bikes after they hit the garage sale or thrift store circuit. This group will pay a fair price or less to acquire this modified bike. They will spend a lot of time removing all the parts, cleaning up the frame. Then I hear they will contract others in their consortium to repaint, redecal and do chrome work to make it look better than it did when it was first purchased. They will spend many more dollars then the bike cost them in the first place.
This group will search every corner of the neighborhood or world to find the parts that originally came with their thrift store find. They will then polish it up, take photos and show it to a group of like minded people on the internet or at a gathering that seems to come up each year.
I don't remember the name of this group of people but they all seem to have one thing in common. They will tell everyone that they got that bike for $20.
Ray Homiski
Elizabeth, NJ