Bob, I'd be surprised if a 1980 charger could be made suitable for LiPo charging. There are so many accounts of house fires caused by mis-charging hobby grade LiPos, even with purpose designed "smart" LiPo chargers. Even the best and smartest of them still require user charge rate settings, equalization of cells, etc. And tragic mistakes are too frequently made there. Also needed are fire resistant LiPo sacks for charging and storage and clear user knowledge to determine if cells are appropriate for charging. Puffed cells, cells over-discharged, damaged cells, etc. are not. Even keeping them in a hot car has caused fires.
I've flown R/C models for many years with LiPos, but I have great respect for the potential hazards, and I would not want to try to charge them without a purpose designed safe LiPo charger and lipo sacks. It doesn't eliminate risk, but it does reduce it.
A much safer alternative is the LiFePO4 cell and charger. Though the cells are more expensive, and have a lower voltage per cell, they are worlds apart in terms of risk from hobby grade LiPos.