Welcome, Simple. There is a wealth of knowledge on the forum. Take advantage of the search function in the upper left (NOT the upper right) as to questions that come up. Many of them can be answered by first doing a search.
Being that most of us are visual-oriented, feel free to post pictures. You can embed a link to photobucket (a free photo sharing service) in your posts. It helps to illustrate what exactly you are working on, especially if you have questions and need advice. Equally important, we love pictures -- such as your bike in the condition that it is in. SO GLAD TO HEAR THAT IT IS IN RUNNING CONDITION. First things being first, you may wish to simply clean up the bike, get it running smooth, make some safety improvements (replace steering bearings, service brakes, install bronze swingarm bushings, etc.) and progressively replace what you can afford to get the bike in the aesthetic direction you like.
Your post indicates that the previous owner was going for "the chooper look." Can you be a little more specific? Did s/he alter the stock frame -- make it a rigid, hard tail (with no moving swingarm or alter the neck and downtubes (thereby altering the stock geometry)? If so, the frame will not likely be a good candidate for a CR-inspired cafe bike, or really much other than a chopper. If that's the case, you may need to shop for another frame.
If you are going for a CR-replica, I applaud your taste, but caution you as to the sizable expense in terms of parts needed. A CR-tank (if aluminum) will be quite pricey. If you go with fiberglass, you can run into all kinds of problems if you run pump gas (ethanol-based gas eats through fiberglass and resin). You can still go for removing unnecessary weight and use a stock tank for now (even modify your tank with knee dents). If you have some metal fabrication or machining skills, you will be WAY ahead of the curve.
Looking forward to more info!
