Well its been a couple of months and I've been testing things out and changing stuff. I've upgraded the focuser to a Moonlite however I believe the tube around the focuser is flexing under the weight of my QSI683-ws8 so today the next round of surgery. I've installed a 3mm thick aluminium backing plate inside the OTA where the focuser attaches. This is glued and bolted in place to stiffen the tube in this area. While I had the scope in bits today I also replaced the original primary collimation springs with some much heavier ones - CSC C-712 from Bunnings which are rated at 199 N each. I've installed some Bob's Knobs on the secondary to avoid having to use a screw driver near the corrector plate. Finally, tonight I'm going to flock the inside of the OTA. After looking at various options, I've decided to use some Scopestuff self adhesive flocking material which is incredibly black.
http://www.scopestuff.com/ss_flok.htm
Hopefully I'll have it all back together tomorrow.