I've got the compressionless housing covered (Shimano 5mm). I cut a nice gentle curve and the ferule fits the little eye on the chainstay perfect. The inner cable is new and came with the shift levers.I might put a little locktite on the screw that goes into the shifter boss on the frame since it seems to not want to stay tight. The set up is very crisp. I actually just bought a NOS Superbe Pro rear derailleur yesterday. A little embarassed to mention it, partly because I payed quite a bit, partly because I'm still undecided on its use. I haven't gotten the derailleur yet.
There's an ebayer named "pacebicycleheaven" I believe that sells a lot of Suntour stuff and he has documented how XC-Expert rear derailleurs (ironically) are not Suntour Accushift compatible but instead Shimano compatible. I'm inclined to believe him. I have 2 XC-Expert rear derailleurs that will have to be sidelined for other projects.
LWaB: I'm sure you are right about the non compatibility of ultra 6 due to spacing variation. I get my bike smarts through books and forums like these, but mostly I have to try something myself and see HOW it is compatible or non-compatible. This is why I'll be tinkering again today (its my day off).
It looks like my 120mm spaced campy high flange tubular wheel will best serve me with the longer axle I recently purchased. I plan to swap axles, then have the wheel relaced and dished at my LBS. Then I'll use a used Winner Pro 12-24 7 speed that I got for 15 bucks off ebay - I know that'll index crisply with the Superbe Pro levers.
mrmw: I appreciate your optimism on cross compatibility, I have run close but not perfect index systems before but the imperfections are a hassle. This is why I appreciate Shimano so much. A lot of their stuff is practically plug-n-play, the way it should be. I know for a fact that Suntour 7 speed clusters both freewheel and cassette are proprietary and not cross compatible to Shimano. This observation is based on the smallest 2 cogs being slightly wider spaced than the remaining 5.