So I bought this thing the other day, because obviously, how could I not? I picked up this and a girls Nishiki Century for 20 bucks total (turned around and sold the latter to my roommate's girlfriend, who's been begging me to help find her a bike). It's an Austrian made Sears and Roebuck. I think he said it was from either 68 or 73, but my memory is crap.
It needed a new shifter cable, so I did that. Also I discovered it was missing a key part on the shifter. I'm not sure what it would be called, but it was the part that goes between the lever and the outer nut, and locks to the inside part in order to keep the friction of the lever from loosening the bolt. I'm not sure if that description made any sense. So, short on resources, I stole a part from a junked bike (the little flanged washer that keeps the front wheel in place) and filed it down to make it functional. See picture:
So around this point I'm thinking, "man, I'm awesome", as I take it for a morning ride. And then the lever snaps! Cause, you know, it's made out of plastic for some stupid reason. Go figure. The bit of metal that's still sticking up here is just the superficial outer reinforcement, which turned out to be completely useless.
So here's my question: Does anybody sell 5 speed shifters? I find a lot of examples for bikes with two derailleurs, but not for bikes with just one. If necessary, I can modify a 10 speed shifter to do the job, but I figured it might be worthwhile to ask first. I'm a complete idiot newb, so I need assistance with such matters.