Thanks everyone,

Danno, the spacing is exactly the problem I suspected and just needed help confirming. And the chain was definitely too short, I lengthened it earlier in the posts. The derailleur should be straight down, and not extended past the derailleur body, yes?

Additionally, that axle measured 146mm, spaced (incorrectly for my needs) toward 130mm drops. I decided I didn't need that, so, I grabbed an old axle that's 135mm and I'm working on spacing that with the Campy hub.

Now that I'm not struggling with that 146mm axle, what formula should I follow for the spacing on this 135 in my 126 drops?

"Move one or two of them to the left side so that the top-cog (14t) is about 4mm away from the inner-face of the drop-out. There should be just 0.5mm of clearance between the outer-plate of the chain and the dropout when you're in the tallest gear. This will laterally shift the largest cog to the right by 5mm or so and place it right where the derailleur currently stops moving. "

What part of the above still applies?

thanks again, I'm almost there.... next up, dishing (grin)
-Michael