Sorry I disappeared for awhile! This is on city water and pressure. Tub flow seems normal. Actually, I've decided not to worry about it. The new owner can deal with it. I've just spent a ton of money having some spigots to the washer changed and the entire breaker panel changed out. An intermittent drip from the shower head doesn't seem as important now! Thanks Tim.

Pushing the diverter down after the water is turned off will still allow the water to drain from the shower arm to the fill spout. There is probably some roughness in the brass castings that is causing increased resistance, but that shouldn't be a problem when you turn the water off first. It may work easier after repeated use.

We are on the verge of purchasing very well reviewed Sign of the Crab (Strom) plumbing products for a cast iron leg tub / shower converter fixture (riser, shower head, hand held shower head, leg tub diverter faucet...) for approximately $1,300 ..... BUT we just found something similar from Barclay, which is sold at Lowes and Home Depot, for about $400. The only reviews I have found of Barclay are about 7 positive to 5 negative, with the negatives all saying that a valve broke and there were no replacement parts available. Still, we could buy the whole set 3x over for the same price. But ... does the chrome peel etc? Anyone have experience with these Barclay plumbing fixtures? Thoughts?

Juanita, yes that is a hand held shower head along with the water controls. You sit in the tub and take a shower otherwise the water goes all over the bathroom. Here are more styles. I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish. Are you trying to use an existing tub/shower wall combination for a new free standing tub? Not going to work. Most freestanding tubs are deeper than built in tubs so the spout is too low to reuse.. Additionally if you purchase new faucets, you have to change the valves in the wall so there is no avoiding having to demo the tile and the wall.