Heh, thanks for spelling out the whole thing. Turns out that the only thing I did wrong was starting from the "2nd gear" position on the shifters (as I sort of suspected was the case). I thought it would be better to have the extra click on the high end, where the cable tension would release, rather than tighten if I tried to go too far. Well, I was wrong! Luckily, I was already doing everything else pretty much your way. On the stand, starting from the "1st gear" position, it appeared to work perfectly the very first time. When I actually take it for a ride tomorrow, I suspect that minimal adjustment will be needed, and very possibly zero. Sorry for being a bozo, I'm a bit new to installing index shifters!