Bicycle Mechanics - Brake problem

On my bike I have the older Shimano 600 side pull brakes. The problem is that they are longer then the current ultegra brakes. So even with my pads all the way up, half of the pads are still to low to reach the full rim. Do i need to replace the brakes or can i safely file down the slit where the pads go into so i can raise the pads up higher. Its hard to explain, but I hope you guys understand.

Brakes used to come with diferent reach sizes. I think they are fairly standard now. You have some with the longer reach. (Reach is the distance from the brake mounting bolt to the center of the pad.) The heavy, oval part of the brake arm --where the pads attach-- can be elongated upward about an 1/8th inch or so without weakening the brake arm too much.
However, from your description it doesn't seem like that will be enough of an adjustment to correctly locate the pads on the rim.

I'm sure there will be other comments on this thread. It's a good one.

yah i was talking about filing the oval thing upwards but like u said i dont think that will be enough. I still have 50% of my pad not touching the rim.

That's rather strange. Usually bikes come with the proper-reach model of brake caliper, so there must be some history behind it. At any rate, one notion is to see if you can find a slimline brake pad that isn't so tall from top to bottom, but I think the real answer is to pick up some short-reach calipers on Ebay or something.

i dont mind buying them new. remember i pay cost.. the f&r calipers will cost me $100 CDN total after tax.also, will new ultegras work better than 15yr old 600s

Technically, the dual-pivot calipers have a different cable-pull ratio, although I've mixed and matched before on my own bikes. Maybe this would be your excuse to do that 9sp upgrade and hook yourself up with some SSLR brake levers and downtube shifters, or some STI levers :)

the only reason the brakes dont fit is because i went from a 15 yr old frame to a 9 year old frame. These are the brakes off the older frame.

Oh yeah, I remember now.

yup. stupid old technology.