Next plan is to fit a gear indicator as I am getting fed up trying to go into 7th gear...

I know that I have one still fitted but it never worked correctly; the sensor for it is still there but the display and wiring have been removed.

I have ordered a Healtech GIpro X-Type G2 with a wiring loom for a ZX9R. Should be relatively "plug and play" but I want to fit it all in properly.

Healtech also some quite interesting other little electronics gizmos on their site. I have already lined another up, but I'll not get ahead of myself, let's fit this one first.

I noticed (and it was previously pointed out to me) that there was quite a strong petrol smell when the car was at idle.

I needed to adjust the mixture screws, which are cunningly hidden underneath the carbs. It helped that I had a spare set of carbs to help get the right size screwdriver and also to get a feel for the adjustment of the sprung screw.

A little perseverance (and a few scratches) and the job is done. Needs a session out in the open for a while to tweak them properly, but they are in the ballpark.

Happy to report that the new driveshaft is absolutely fine. The clunking noise is still there to some extent but is much reduced. Suspect that the noise is coming from further up in the drivetrain. Not a catastrophic type noise by any means :)

Whilst the car was up in the air, I took the opportunity to swap out the 1/2" UNF suspension nut on the lower rear arm. During our suspension set up session, the nut was re-used so many times. As it's a nyloc, the nylon ring must have been well beyond its best. 

Just noticed in the picture, a bit more of the powder coating coming off... I'll add it to next winter's jobs.

Well, it's all back together. Didn't take too long; unsurprising really, given the amount of times I've taken them on and off.

Bolts are all torqued up properly and it's ready to go.

Weather is the only thing stopping a test drive; miserable drizzle and showers :(

I've used a tywrap on the CV boot as I think it really doesn't matter!

Frog tape removed and it has turned out pretty good.

Now to fit it back onto the car. 

Last job of the day was to prime the shaft for painting. I know it is shiny now, but the elements would soon make a mess of it. A shame I know but needs must.

Ladders were used as a make-shift support, the shaft was suspended by lockwire threaded through a circlip. Both splined ends were protected by frog tape, the shaft was degreased, dried, and a couple of coats of etch primer were applied.

Leaving it to harden properly overnight.

The picture shows Wee Black Cat conducting Quality Assurance duties.
 

A weight comparison of the two driveshafts.

The old one weighs in at 1921g

The new one weighs in at 1504g

417g lighter! That's not bad.

If I get the other driveshaft swapped out too, that's nearly a kilo of weight saving.

Did I also mention that the new driveshaft is also very shiny!

I did a quick check of the CV joint fit over the splined shaft. I wanted to see how much tighter brand new splines were compared to the old ones.

The difference is "night and day". Absolutely no movement in them at all. I'm a happy bunny.

The new driveshaft has arrived! It's slightly shorter than the original but the CV joints are designed to have some leeway, so not a problem.

Compared to the old one, it's very shiny.

The single outer recess for a circlip is not a problem either. The reason the inner recess is not machined is that it can apparently induce a failure point. Either way, I'm not worried.
 

Taking some more logical measurements, this is what we come up with.

The shaft has an overall 400mm length, which is the critical measurement for the overall shaft.

Having sourced a good source for a replacement, I'm going to measure the other shaft so I can get a matched pair.

It turns out that these shafts and CV joints are popular in the autograss community, so they are used to a hard life!

Ok, so the driveshaft has been removed again for a more critical inspection.

Firstly, even with the naked eye, the shaft doesn't appear to be straight. That's not exactly a good start.

I know the tear line in this oil absorption sheet isn't exactly an engineering datum but it's obvious that something isn't quite true (literally)
 

Easy job of the day was swapping out the sidelight holders. The old perished ones have been consigned to the bin. The new ones hold the wee bulb a lot better.

The slightly more difficult job was to remove the driveshaft to measure it. 12 bolts later and I have it in my hand. I took a couple of measurements and replaced it.

Only after did I realise that I should have recorded quite a few more dimensions to define it better. I have contacted an engineering company to see what measurements to take.

It's also puzzling that their driveshafts have only outer circlips on the CVs. 

The ones I have at the moment have inner and outer circlips. Hmmm.

A visit to Alan's and it appears the offside driveshaft could be the source of the clunking. There was a bit of play between the CV and the shaft; turning the CV slightly didn't move the shaft immediately.

Either way the joint and shaft have to come off for another look.

I doubt that the problem is with the CV joint as both the old and new ones behaved the same.

Next is to get recommendations on where to get a pair of custom made driveshafts...

On a happier note, we managed to sort out the rear alignment. Started out hugely toe out but managed to get it just toe'd in. There may be a small adjustment to be made but I'm going to let the suspension settle out a bit first before altering it again. I am now adept at suspension alignment using cotton string!

A couple of runs out in the car that were longer than usual identified a stinky problem. The rubber banding that stops the exhaust can being scratched by the strap is looking a bit melty and stinks!

I'm going to replace it all soon anyway but was still planning on using rubber. Maybe not now 🤔

Despite the change of diff and the offside CV joints, the clunky noise is still there. It only appears when not on or off load, somewhere in between. The centre bearing has a little movement in it but, as the support around it is made of rubber, this is to be expected.

Centre bearing replacement is not that arduous, even if it means removing the propshaft (ha ha, famous last words!)

I will get a second opinion and see where we can go next.

Good news! An MOT pass with no advisories. The rear fog light burst into life and even the headlight aim was good :-)

A happy bunny :-)

The Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations (1989) state that a rear fog light is mandatory. However, as long as it is adequately spaced away from a rear brake light and within a certain height band, there is pretty much free reign for the actual specs of the lamp.

The size, intensity and wattage are all not specified. For safety reasons, it wouldn't be prudent to go stupidly small but there are some quite powerful small LED packages out there. I shall research it some more, especially if my current LED cluster is starting to gradually fail.

As well as the dodgy headlamp aim (which is a mare to adjust and relies on faith-based bolt tightening) I have noticed that there is a sidelight issue.

The plastic lamp holders are old and a little perished. They do not grip the lamp as tightly as they used to. I could get new holders but if the car fails its MOT on headlight aim, then I will be replacing the headlamps anyway.

As a temporary fix, I have tywrapped the crimp connectors together so they grip the holder tighter, thus gripping the lamp tighter. That's the theory anyway. Let's see how they stand up to a bit of road vibration.

I have booked the MOT. It's a week away so I thought I'd at least get the engine running.

A tankful of fuel and some cranking sessions (with no ignition) to get the oil distributed a bit better. Got to the stage where the oil light went out as soon as I pressed the start button. Good.

Add the ignition and a little choke and it fired up first time :)

Now to have a good look around to see if anything had died over the winter.

First casualty I noticed was my rear fog/rain light in which some of the LEDs have died. I will have to order a new one as they are sealed units. Hey ho.
 

The old exhaust mount is a bit of a bodge. It's a small strip of thick aluminium with some banding rubber on one end. It just looks a bit grotty.

I wanted to make it a little better and introduce a rubber bobbin.

A wee ebay purchase later and I have four M8 x 25mm bobbins. I ordered four because you never can tell... that and the fact that they only did them in packs of four.

It makes it a little neater and also has the benefit of raising the exhaust can a bit.
It's the lowest part of the car and although it hasn't contacted the road yet, it's only time.

A small job but an improvement nonetheless.

I'm a little concerned about the droop as the weight of the exhaust is twisting the bobbin. I could always alleviate the problem by adding another mounting strap and sharing the load between two bobbins?