GT Timberline '93

I've never owned a GT, so off I trundled across the M62 and picked this Timberline up from a lovely bloke in the wonderfully named village of Grotton.

When I saw the bike in the flesh, I started to get some serious memories flooding back of scouring catalogues for the bikes I would pester my parents to buy as an 11 year old. My older brother had a '91 (I think) Avalanche in white with the veined / marbled lines in the paint, I loved this bike and still hanker after one...
Looking at this Timberline and giving it some thought, I think this was the actual model, year and colour that I'd been pestering my parents to get me! They didn't shell out for a GT for me, which I think is fair enough. My first bike was a Raleigh Mustang in a pink-ish tinge, then I had a few years of car boot sale bargains, in the form of an Al Carter and an Emmelle Classic. My dad eventually bought me my '94 Lava Dome that I still own.

So anyway, this Timberline is in pretty good nick for a 27 year old. Ok, so the right hand shifter shifts all the way up the block and then when you hit the lowest gear, it resets to the highest... No biggie...
Yeah, the seatpost is also stuck. It's too low for me, but for what I'm gonna use it for, it'll be reet. I've a feeling the mrs could also swing a leg over it if needed as it is. I may address this at some point, but for now it's fine and I want to enjoy the paint for a bit.

I've bought a ridiculous handlebar for it and have an ancient x-lite stem, so at some point it's gonna look a bit more klunker-esque... Think I'll go down the quill-ahead conversion route for now, as I can't afford a threadless fork.

Like I said, I bought a ridiculous bar for it, along with a BMX stem and a quill adaptor. Thought I'd just mock it up the other day, as I finally started to strip it, with the aim of getting seatpost moving.
No sure what method I'll end up going heavy with, but for now, I'll try a heap of soaks with penetrating oil over a few weeks, then try it in a vice. Fingers crossed I don't have to melt the sucker out with caustic soda, but that's probably what I'll do if method #1 is a fail.