Stem to downtube shift

ghostpedal said:

I am getting involved in road cycling after a long hiatus. I am pretty short of funds, but have managed to get an older Schwinn road bike with a decent frame. What I would like to do is to convert the stem mounted friction shifters (Suntour AR 12 speed) to indexed downtube mounted shifters. What is the procedure for doing such a conversion, and what parts do I need? Has anyone had good luck with such a task?
Thanks.

I suggest you start over with something more appropriate and easier to deal with. Long story short, I have yet to see a frame setup for friction stem shifters that did not present serrious issues when trying to convert to downtube index. It does not have bosses on the downtube for mounting shifters does it? There are lots of clamp on downtube friction shifters, but finding a downtube clamp for index shifters is a serious problem. www.lickbike.com use to have some,but they may be sold out. 'Old schwinn' is another red flag. I'll stop there while you reconsider.

That was my line of thinking also, but I was hoping someone had some miracle advice. Thanks for your help.

boudreaux said:

I suggest you start over with something more appropriate and easier to deal with. Long story short, I have yet to see a frame setup for friction stem shifters that did not present serrious issues when trying to convert to downtube index. It does not have bosses on the downtube for mounting shifters does it? There are lots of clamp on downtube friction shifters, but finding a downtube clamp for index shifters is a serious problem. www.lickbike.com use to have some,but they may be sold out. 'Old schwinn' is another red flag. I'll stop there while you reconsider.

ghostpedal said:

That was my line of thinking also, but I was hoping someone had some miracle advice.

Lots of money is one substitute for miracles.There is no laack of better stuff to start with,even if your base is garage sles or thrift stores.