So I bought a nice Raleigh R600 with a missing shifter cable for the FD. No problem. I installed a cable and after flushing it with WD-40, it works perfectly. The rd side wouldn't click so more WD and it clicks and shifts well except only on seven gears. It just runs out of clicks. Have I not flushed enough crap out or do I have a seven speed 105? I noticed the rear wheel is an ultegra replacement. I didn't think the 105 ever had a seven speed version and the shifter seems to hit all the cogs dead on on the 8 speed cassette. I'd like to sell the bike but won't till it's working right. Any suggestions? I understand prayer might help.

If you are lucky it might be a frayed cable or rusted housing or an "industrial" washout and relube of the brifter
might fix it, but IME 8spd brifters just didn't last very long. You are right, no 7spd brifters. Most likely site of
cable fray is inside the brifter where it winds tightly around the drum.

Microshift makes good quality cheap 8spd: https://www.microshift.com/en/product/sb-r483/

One of the easier sti's to work on. Here is a video showing the inside. If the gear isn't worn, then it may still just have some crud in there. Just making sure the limits on the rd are set correctly.

See above.
So which is it? Does it only shift to 7 cogs or does it hit all 8?
Most shifters have one "click" less than the speed.

To whom would you pray?

BTW, seven clicks = eight speeds.

It hits all cogs that it shifts to in the center of each cog, meaning the brifter is set to 8speed spacing. It only hits seven cogs though. I can eliminate the small or the large but it just won't get all eight. The stop screws are not the problem. Since I can get it to the big gear but it won't hold because there's no click, I'm thinking there's just more crap to be cleaned. The parts are metal, not plastic so I'm hoping to save it. Frankly brifters are new to me and I don't want to take it apart. The video looked real easy but I was eying the spring and washer the mechanic had sitting on his bench with some consternation. I've pulled apart flat bar shifters and could never get the spring back in place and the cover back on. I'm much more comfortable in the C&V section. DON'T JUDGE ME.🤓

I don't know your level of expertise, so just a basic question-
When on the smallest cog, is there "slop" in the shift cable?
There shouldn't be.

This is an option if you don't get it going with the flush & lube.

https://www.ebay.com/p/911956955

Best way to troubleshoot these is to start by uncoupling the shifter from the derailleur. Put some tension on the cable and count the clicks. As mentioned above, eight speeds = seven clicks. Tear into the shifter only if you're getting fewer than seven clean clicks.

An easy way to uncouple the system on most bikes is to shift into low, stop pedaling, then shift into high. This will put enough slack in the cable to allow you to pull a housing out of a slotted frame stop. That way you can leave all cable adjustments as is. For the front der, reverse the above gears.

Faceplate comes off the same as in this video for RSX.

No. I snug up the cable and use very little cable adjustment screw turns to get to the next gear.

Nice video. Guess I'll pull it apart and give it a thorough cleaning. Hope I can find something similar for that spring holder. Maybe a nozzle off my WD-40 can.

You should be able to get at what you need by taking off the cover as in the first video. If you decide to break it all the way down, I've used a cable end to hold that spring on the lever.

Success! I watched the video twice and went to work. The brifter was missing some parts as well as having some crud fouling the rachets. I fabricated a part and used a toothbrush to clean and lube the mechanism. It works perfectly! The previous owner probably tried to fix the problem and botched it pretty badly. Which is why he agreed to let me have it for $65 in the first place. Thanks everyone and curbtender!