1975 Raleigh Sports, Caliper Brake question
 

currently restoring a 1975 raleigh sports, i was able to get all the rust off the chrome bits, going to wait and do the paint touch up next winter,
so now im in the process of reassembly and im reattaching the brake levers, one thing ive noticed, is there is a separate black peice that fits to the handle that allows you to adjust the brake cable, when i pull the lever it locks it to the handlebar... is this normal opperation? or is something wrong/installed incorrectly,

im sure all you raleigh experts out there know what i mean, your help would be apreciated, pics to come once im done...

Your brake levers might have the 'self adjusting' mechanisms on them which were notorious for failure and quickly discontinued. If you can kindly post a photo of the levers we can ascertain if that is the case and explain how to rectify the problem. Most of the time the mechanisms are simply removed and the levers work in the traditional fashion.