[Excaliber]

It's a fairly common problem with an FE. Virtually no chance of collateral damage, no special shaft required, just replace it. The problem is related to the end stand that supports the shaft. Some FE's don't even have an end stand, which leads to a broken shaft. Often an existing end stand is not adjusted properly during the installation and does not offer enough, or any, actual support of the shaft. There are various methods to adjust the proper height of the end stand support, you need to find out how and get it right this time. Even a good builder can overlook or take for granted the end stand adjustment, especially with a mild build to begin with. The thinking might be, many of the originals never even had an end stand, this build is a mild low rpm motor, probably doesn't even really need an end stand. Like that... Well they DO need an end stand and one that is adjusted properly.