Tool prices can be rough and the initial cost of the lathe can be the cheapest part.
I bought a new Chinese Lathe (14x40) rather than try to rebuild my well used older 16" machine and so far it is doing just fine, I have found that the larger import machines from 12x36 on up are not at all bad, certainly not even in the same ballgame as the old American/European iron but quite usable (and affordable) anyway. I kind of figured 4 Jaw would weigh in on this one and sure enough his usual wealth of knowledge put everything in a much clearer perspective!
There is more info in that one post than I have seen on these old machines anywhere and as common as they seem to be we need to save this post for possible future reference.