Hope you're keepin' an eye to safety here... there can be such a thing as adding TOO MUCH lightness in some components, y'know. A couple of straight lines painted down the rod, to be inspected after a few laps may be a good idea there... and another rod (stock) in the "spares kit."
I'd rather hear you'd cut the ends, turned an undercut in 'em and welded up a TUBING shaft there...NO pipe: some .125" wall (minimum) TUBING.