Bicycle Mechanics - Ergo Rebuild

I've noticed that my right ergo lever is beginning to get
a bit cantankerous much like its owner. Sometimes shifts,
sometimes thumb lever will lock up and I have to use
downshift and then upshift twice.
Given they are record 8 speed levers I guess its about
time for a rebuild.
A few questions.
1) Am I nuts? even though Branford Bikes says it can be done
is this WAY BEYOND the average home mechanic (I built up
my Serotta entirely, and do all maintenance)?
2) If I'm going to rebuild (and I actually prefer the older
lever shape) I've been thinking of rebuilding as 9 or 10 speed.
The kits are available. Will I need to change R Derailleur/drive
train at same time or can I still run 8 speed with 9 speed (or 10)
levers (thought here is I can upgrade Rd, wheels, chainrings/set later).

thanks,
Marty

You can probably do it yourself. If you have an old handlebar you can clamp in a vice it makes the job easier (I don't remember any "special" tools). We don't do much Campy work(or sales) but I think you will have compatibility problems unless you do a complete swap.

Remember going to nine or ten only gives you smaller jumps not a bigger spread. Personaly, I think the eight (Shimano and Campy) holds up better.

i've rebuilt my veloce levers once. well, tore em apart and put em back together. it works, that's all i can ask for. it's not too hard, just get a nice clean (and large) work surface. there's one step that's a little tricky, installation of one of the springs, but nothing that's too difficult.

i reckon there's a conversion gear you can buy that you can install during the rebuild that'll let you switch to a 9 or 10 speed setup, but as the good reverend said, 8 does hold up better, and there's really no good reason to bother switching. if i could have easily done it, i'd have put an 8 speed setup on my new race bike.

Thanks for the responses,
I like the 8 speed (heck I'm still running it right?) but
I'm getting concerned about parts. I know I can run
9 or 10 speed hubs with 8 speed using Wheels Manufacturing respacing kit.

Marty

I have one of the respacing kits on my Bianchi. I went with a Shimano compatible rear hub though. I did that because there is a wider variety of hubs and built wheels available, and if I should ever taco a wheel during a supported ride, or even when I'm far from home, I can just slap my cassette on anything with a Shimano compatible hub, which I'm much more likely to find at any bike shop in the world. I have Spinergy Xaero-X wheels and a SRAM 12-26 8 speed cassette. It works beautifully with my 9 year old Mirage grouppo.

I'm 99% sure that you cannot rebuild an 8 speed shifter into a 10 speed. I rebuilt a 9 into a 10 as a challenge. When I was all done I had spent $60 on a shifter that didn't work as crisply as a factory 10 speed. But I'm glad I tried it.

Can be done but not at home : saw lbs guy take apart a Campy Record , " twang " then scury for the bits . He fixed it ´cause he´s good but if that happens to him ........

Quick update,
yes it can go from 8 to 10, but only if later 10 speed.
In the interim I found out that Branford is out of
parts for the upgrade, they suggest going from 9 speed
back to 8 (and then can upgrade to 10). So, I'm thinking
I need to bite the bullet and just upgrade whole system
to 10 speed (unless I can find rebuild parts for 8 or 9).
question, if I go to 9 speed, I can mod RD to work with
9 (easily done) but what about chainrings? were they
compatable? (or am I going to by new chainrings too!).

Marty