Wow - that's really cool. I like that
If I were closer, I'd buy it. I actaully have a roundie cabinet for a GE set, I found it (just the cabinet, grumble) on the side of the road. I also recently found a round tube (no clue if it's any good). I've thought about building a frankenset for a while, seeming as though it looks like it'll be the only way I'll manage to get ahold of a roundie. But all that aside, I really like the idea of a salvaged set like this, that's pretty cool, and his idea with the smoked plexiglass would be neat too. See, what I'd do is get bypass the original tuner (or mount it back inside the cabinet), and hook up an 80's cable box with the red seven segment displays, and mount a nice keypad and the red displays in the front. Put wood on the sides, and the smoked plexi over the tube area. Most of those cable boxes would allow you to turn on the set with the remote's power button, through a relay - you'd have a remote control roundie! Put in an internal RF modulator (or bypass the tuner entirely, and direct couple baseband video) and hook up a DVD player and have the home entertainment system from the past's view of the future.
-Ian