Re: [CR]Paramount musings/levers

Those safety levers are fully compatible with Dia-Compe gum hoods. One merely has to cut the "pre-punched" hole in the hoods to a larger diameter, so as to clear the 1/2" dia washer. I do this with a razor blade WITH the hood fitted over the extended stud and washer, assuring that the bigger hole is on-center with the installed washer.
>From there, I discard the star washer, then shorten the screw-retaining coil spring (that's inside the hollow pivot shaft!) before securing the screw. I cut 1-1/2 coils off the spring to compensate for the discarded star washer's thickness, and the resulting istallation typically has no slop at the auxiliary lever's pivot. Additional lever throw can be restored by trimming a mm or two from the front of the lever body, where the auxiliary lever's tab keeps the main lever from fully "returning". The auxiliary lever's don't look nearly so "cheap" with a nice set of hoods fitted. I sometimes even race with these, pretty handy on the CX course.

David Snyder
Auburn, CA