Originally Posted by madpogue

Those levers..... don't look right. They look like the lever arm, relative to the body, is in the position that would be for a lever with a release that's been opened, as if for wheel removal. That's gonna make the reach too far no matter what. Can you get a close-up photo of one of the levers from the front?

You should be able to find brand/period correct levers that don't require so much reach.