Single Piece Shaft!

My tailshaft came back, nicely tig welded.

A quick spray with some black paint to keep it from corroding.

I don't think I've shown the complete shaft before, so here it is. Sorry if the camera angle makes you feel ill - the iPhone accelerometer seems to struggle when aiming almost straight down. 

I also replaced a flange on the back part of the exhaust, it was leaking quite badly as it was actually the wrong size. Remember this was only originally to be a temporary exhaust.

Finally, the car back down on the ground.

The test drive proved conclusive: the new, single piece tailshaft is awesome! No tailshaft vibration at all. 

I did however have some dramas as you may have seen. First, the battery was almost flat. I got it charged enough to fire into action the first time around but it unfortunately wasn't really enough for a second go.

The other thing is that the front right hand side brake caliper was locking on. Pedal feel was quite average and pulled to one side, and there was quite a smell of brakes.

Unfortunately a combination of both things made the car quite difficult to roll start - indeed in the video you can see I'm pushing the car backwards down a hill with my foot out the door to get enough speed to roll start it.

The solution to the battery problem is simple - charge it.

The solution to the brake problem was also simple however I took no photos of the process.

I removed the wheel, brake caliper and pads, pushed the pistons on both sides back into the brake caliper (the inside one was very,very hard to move with my g-clamp - guilty!!), refitted, pumped the pedal, removed and pushed back again, and refitted. 

Scarlett is happy the car is back on the ground as she can now climb up onto the boot again.

Tests today showed that the car has even more poke when the brake piston is not sticking slightly on. Stomping the throttle in second gear is just a recipe for wheel-spin even at low revs.

Awesome.