Rhinoplasty?

With the estate getting a rebuilt diff,I decided that the quill shaft bearing in the diff 'nose' should be replaced too.After all what would be the point of putting the new diff in without doing it?The spare diff came with the correct height nose extension for the estate but these are said to be a weak spot particularly on facelift estates like ours,it's recommended to add some strength with welded 'webs' like shown below.

 Excuse the holes drilled in them,this wasn't some futile weight saving exercise,just holes from previous use of the steel bar they were cut from.I have owned an arc welder for over 20 years,it keeps dust off a shelf in the garage very nicely.I have never used it though.So I decided to have a go at welding them into place.I had mislaid the instructions,but had some 2.5mm welding rods and set the amps halfway through the range shown for this size and tried welding some scrap bar together.Not easy but I managed it,so I decided to have a go on the nose.A few hours later and lots of grinding back and rewelding,I had four welds that try as I might,I could not break.

 Not the prettiest job in the world and certainly no challenge to Chris Witor for his exchange strengthened nose pieces,but I did it myself and once painted and under the the car it will be fine.Today in between decorating our downstairs toilet I found time to assemble all the parts of the Stag rear brakes which are going on the pi.This is the final piece of the brake upgrade which has already seen me install the front brakes,master cylinder and servo and dual circuits from the same car.With any lluck these will be fitted later this week in time for Crich next weekend.