90s Raleigh MTB, front derailleur shifting problems, SRAM Grip shifts

So I bought an older Raleigh MTB with Shimano 3×7 drive train. Front derailleur is being finicky.

I’ve removed and cleaned the derailleur and disassembled/ cleaned the SRAM grip shift. Derailleur is setup about 2mm from the largest ring, it’s straight and doesn’t appear bent.

After adjusting the lower limit screw so the chain is about 1mm away, I can shift smoothly into 2nd, I can force it into 3rd but the cable gets really tight and hard to twist the shifter so it pops out very easily.

However it doesn’t want to go from 2-1, I need to backoff the lower limit screw for it to return to the 1st sprocket. At this point (chain is approx. in center) moving the shifter from 1-2 doesn’t do anything, from 2-3 shifts me into the 2nd sprocket.

I’ve played around with the cable tension but seems to either be too loose where 1-2 on the shifter doesn’t do anything – or too tight where the cable is unreasonably tight on the 2-3 shift.

Ty in advance

by corrugatedjuice