simple dumb questions but...
I've had a pair of nice old DuraAce hubbed wheels since about 1988.
Somewhere along the way, the original Uniglide cassette became seperated and lost.
I finally found the replacement Uniglide sprockets I think I need to rebuild this wheel.

questions and problems:

1. the first 6 sprockets slot on the splines nicely. But the 7th doesn't hit the splines. I presume that either the 3mm spacers provided with the sprockets are too thick. Or, my memory is failing me and this was only originally a 7 speed setup?
the length of the hub body is 30mm to the start of the threading, 38mm to the outside of the threading.

2. the final sprocket that is supposed to thread on is too large for this threaded bit. The threaded part of the body measures just under 32mm diam. and the threaded sprocket measures inside diam 34mm.
can I expect to find a correctly sized 32mm threaded last sprocket to use instead?

3. once I resolve these other issues, is there a correct orientation of the sprockets?
should the "tooth count" be facing In or Out? (though some sprockets do not have a marking on them.)
also, by rotating a sprocket one spline either way, the sprocket-to-sprocket tooth alignment changes. is there an ideal pattern for the teeth as the sprockets go 8,7,6,5 etc.?

Many thanks

First, I was under the impression Uniglide only went to 6spd before Hyperglide came along... 7spd maybe, but 8spd? Sounds wrong.

Second, and mainly, forget Uniglide - it's rubbish next to Hyperglide, and you're wasting your time with it unless period authenticity is a prime concern. If you take out the spindle you should see a 10mm hex sleeve holding the cassette body onto the hub. Undo this to swap it for a Hyperglide one, and then you're set to enjoy way better shifting.

If a 10 MM hex doesn't work you might need this SH-TL-FH10 . yes uniglide was 6 speeds only and the smallest cog was what kept the cassette onto the hub . there was no locking ring at the time just the small cog . to remove or unlock the cog you need 2 chainwhips .

The Dura-Ace Uniglide hubs had a unique smaller thread for the small cog. This was so you could put an 11-tooth cog there. "Standard" Uniglide only went down to 12 tooth cogs. Dura-Ace Uniglide threaded cogs are pretty darn rare.

There's no special orientation to the sprockets- that only came on with Hyperglide.

FWIW: while shopping around, I found a NOS Dura-Ace EX 5-speed hub: https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=300556604498
In theory, you could put a 11-12-13-14-15 straight block on this. Totally crazy.

And 7 and 8 speeds too!

With a bunch of Googling, I've managed to find a scan (jpg) of the exploded view for a DuraAce FH-7402 hub. Included with the hub view is the mating 8 speed UG cassette.

At the same site, I found a similar page for the FH-7400 hub. That one includes 6 and 7 speed UG cassette info.

Further, Ultegra FH-6402 (8 speed) hubs have dual threaded HG/UG bodies.

Uniglide was 5, 6, 7, and 8-speed. I have a Dura-Ace AX 7-speed Uniglide hub on one set of wheels.

Also, the early Uniglide hubs had pressed-on bodies. Danno has swapped these for Hyperglide bodies, but it's not something I would do.

Hmmm, buried in the UPdate Note of this ebay listing ( 3f05253bb4 ) seems to be part of the answer I was looking fort eh here's part of the answer I was looking for:

"Update Note...
Shimano designed/manufactured their Dura-Ace Uniglide cassette/freehub systems to different specifications relative to their other UniGlide systems. The splined cogs and spacers (and the related splined section of a UniGlide hub body) are similar for all Shimano UniGlide models, but the smallest UniGlide sprocket that threads onto the end of a UniGlide hub body is spec'd to different standards. More specifically, Shimano made their Dura-Ace threaded sprockets (and the threaded section of their Dura-Ace hub bodies that accomodate them) with a smaller diameter relative to their other UniGlide systems. We measure Shimano UniGlide threaded cogs (with the exception of Dura-Ace models) to be about 33.5 mm in diameter and they will thread fine on just about any non Dura-Ace UniGlide freehub. However, Shimano's Dura-Ace threaded UniGlide cogs were spec'd to a smaller standard...with only a 31.0 mm diameter...and are only compatible with Dura-Ace UniGlide freehubs with the smaller (in diameter) threaded hub body section. Please keep mind this is only an issue with threaded UniGlide sprockets, as all splined UniGlide sprockets and spacers are interchangable on just about any UniGlide freehub...although be mindful of spacer widths...as Shimano used different spacer widths to build their 6, 7 and 8-speed UniGlide cassettes."

evidently even though the cassette kit I bought was listed as Dura Ace, it was not.
ahhh well, live and learn.

Huh. Seems strange; Uniglide kinda sucked with indexing... maybe it worked better with closer spacing? Or not, given the rarity of 7 & 8spd.

Also standing corrected on the early non-removable cassette bodies - I should have picked up on that, cause I've also swapped a Hyperglide shell onto on old Dura-Ace AX hub. Had to grind back the base of the shell to fit inside a raised lip on the hub flange.

Also, the splines start too close to the flange, requires a spacer. : (