mark d

1987 panasonic dx 600 came without shift levers, (braze on mounts) bought some nos on ebay. did some searches and installed as per the following instructions:

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...-question.html

1. Chrome concave plastic piece goes on first, concave side toward frame, Flat side faces out
2. Brass washer
3. Thin steal washer, 2 little protrusions toward frame, Make sure not to bracket the 2 little protrusions between the little metal tab on frame. Things won't fit or shift if you do this. The tab on the frame is a stop for the lever.
4. Shift lever, Make sure the tab on the inside of the lever goes in the notch between the 2 little protrusions
5. Relatively thick rubber\metal washer. Metal side faces frame
6. screw

installed as per the above with the exception that #5 is just a thick rubber washer no metal

right shifter works perfect

left shifter for the front derailleur will not hold. keeps loosening

any help would be much appreciated

thks

dsbrantjr

Does the shifter not hold position, or does the screw keep coming loose?

rccardr 

#5 may be your problem. On the left non-indexing side, that part applies pressure to the concave steel part that fits into the lever body. This pressure is what holds the lever in place. If that part is only rubber, you’re missing the metal plate that attaches to it (yes, they can come apart).
If you can find that part, another issue may be that the retaining bolt is bottoming out in the braze on; it gets tight but doesn’t apply sufficient pressure to the top cap.

rccardr 

Couple pics to help out:
Left shifter parts in order of installation

This is #5 , see how the plastic part and the metal plate can separate


The metal plate has to be inserted into the plastic part so that the squared sections of the hole line up:


This side of the plastic part of #5 is to the outside, bolt head goes into this indentation:

mark d

riccardr, you nailed it. i had not installed the metal part into the plastic part as it was not mentioned in the instructions i found or i misunderstood the instructions. those photos are perfect. the shimano schematics i found were confusing at best and there were like 5 different versions for the 600. i hope future generations will come to your photos when they do their search

thank you very much

dsbrantjr:
Does the shifter not hold position, or does the screw keep coming loose?

answer is both. screw moved with the lever. i should be good to go now with rricardr's photos

thank you for replying to my querry

mark d

just got back from a test ride. perfect.

thanks again