Can I ask you why you migrated to a mountain bike drop bar conversion?

As for me, I recently found some parts from a local bike shop. They were all used. I got a 44 cm drop bar, vintage 105 brake levers, and some shimano friction bar end shifters. I must say however, that I am not satisfied at all. This is the first time that I have done this, and it seems I've made some mistakes. First of all, I just get the quill stem that came with the drop bar. The combination of this old stem and long drop bar with deep drops makes the whole thing feel flimsy. Also, the 105 brake levers are too narrow for my hands. Finally, The vintage stem points slightly downwards, which makes the reach feel too far away.

I think I'm going to go completely back to the drawing board. Maybe I will get a thread less stem adapter so that I can easily try out different stems and handlebars, a narrower drop bar with shallower drops, and some Tektro RL 340 brake levers, which I believe have about the same amount of surface area as most modern brifters.