Thanks for all the feedback everyone. At the moment I'm still very concerned about how to proceed, so the Monark is going to stay just as it is for a while. So to answer the question - for me - what would I do if that was my bike? Leave it alone til I acquire some more experience.
Thankfully, I have the perfect crust-cycle that can serve as a guinea pig. It's a '59 Ross Super Deluxe. Nowhere near as super or deluxe as the Monark, but it still has nice lines. I think it will be an excellent candidate to learn on. I'll start a project thread to document the journey. Probably after the new year...
Finally, a heads up. I did not chose my username wisely. I'll be changing it soon and posting a thread to that effect in Birds of a Feather. I wanted to mention it here since folks associate me and the Monark with my current username.