cut to the chase: have you cut off the protruding swivel peg which receives the screw holding suicide levers in place? how did you? have you done this often? are there any issues to consider?

back story: oh my god, seattle craigslist has been slim pickins this summer. i haven't found anything in my price range ($200) worth wrenching. but then a girl friend (not 'the,' but 'a') needed an entry level bike to bug about town. well, there seem to be plenty of those for $100 if you can make it out to the burbs. i found two for her to choose: a fuji palisade mixte and a schwinn world, at $60 each. they're pretty nice for what they are -- suntour, alloy rims, valite tubing, etc. and both have suicide levers. she and i both wanted to scrap them and add gum hoods. but this being my first experience with these levers, i didn't realize there was a protruding peg, over which the suicide lever rotates. seems i've bitten off a little more than i can chew.

i'm giving both bikes the full overhaul treatment, so at least i'm getting my 'wrench-fix' until this hot weather and poor bike market blow over. i know, i know, i should be riding instead...