This shifter unit is pretty cool. There is a bracket made of formed steel that clamps around the twin cantilever top tubes, with a bolt running through it to hold it in place. Then the top and bottom halves of this quite durable plastic housing, come together around the clamp and two screws hold those two pieces together. There is also a spring loaded cable stop built in to the housing for cable tension adjustment at the shifter.
The shift mechanism itself is a simple lever, with a spot for the ball end of a shift cable to pop into, and then the cable follows the course around and out the back end of the shift box. The one thing I have found is this, like a couple of other old school shifters, take a 'pill' shaped cable end that is only found on special cables that provide both ends; the standard 'barrel' shaped one on one end, and the 'pill' on the other.
The original shift lever had more of a "Hurst" style handle on it. Mine was missing completely when I found it in the barn.
I have had good luck finding ball end shifter knobs (that's what I call them, anyway
) at my local Ace Hardware. I found this one that with some modification will fit nicely and is in proportion to the lever.
There is a very specific cable, with another spring mechanism that is housed in an interesting tube that runs to the rear derailleur. I'm reasonably sure this stuff is not in current production, and I have a more expedient and easy option with modern cable and housing I will use.
That spring ^ was inside the tube, attached to another cable that ran back out the tube, through housing, and stopped at the rear der. The cap on both ends of the tube is aluminum, and threads into the tube. There is a built in cable stop (see photo above) for the housing in each cap end. Pretty ingenious !
The housing is missing the right hand/top half / lever side portion. Snapped off quite cleanly from the bottom piece. So I needed to find something of around the same circumference, and size, and design. How about this?
"Re-cycling" at it's best!
The bottom third of a 'beverage can'.
Now, to match up the shiny can bottom with the dull, aged plastic housing, I painted both pieces to match with my trusty Rustoleum Hammered paint.
I used the Hammered spray on the cable tube as well, after cleaning it as best I could. It was a really mild steel, and the rust had embedded itself into the surface. So it's bumpy, but adds a little more to the vintage look.
And with the custom piece drilled and screwed into place.
I kept the spring loaded cable stop tension adjuster on the shifter end (see photo above) and then after removing the old spring, cables, cobwebs, and grit from the 'tube', I painted it and used it in-line with my new housing as a cable stop for the front and rear sections of housing for the rear derailleur.
I took a step in the 'modified' direction and matched up my new derailleur with a 6 speed freewheel in the rear. The original was 5 spd.
This Sunrace rear der mounted up nicely to the frame, and is virtually the same design as the original Shimano Lark, with the short cage and pull ratio for the stock friction shifter.
Finally, in the waning moments of our last glimpse of sunshine for the foreseeable future; I got one shot of the bike put together in front of the garage! I rode it around the block and it shifts well, brakes well, and has a nice feel. The seat needs to be higher ( I plan to ride this, as I do with all my builds) and the seat post is locked up tighter than a drum. But, that will wait till next week. Her she is...
More mods and design elements coming in the next couple weeks before Winter sets in. We went from 68 for a high on Wed afternoon, to 37 degrees this morning. Saw our first snowflakes in the breeze as we tried to get the first few cart loads of leaves off the front lawn for the Fall. You have to move fast up here in the North country. Weather waits for no one!