Nick's Land Rover - Series III Rebuild

Having rebuilt the Fairey overdrive, this post shows how to fit the overdrive to a standard transmission. It shows the whole procedure except for the installation of the selector lever and bracket, but I’ll try to explain that further on. This guide is applicable to refitting an overdrive or fitting one to a vehicle for the first time.

Start by chocking the wheels and cleaning the outside of the gearbox ans transfer case. It doesn’t have to be spotless, but you don’t want any debris falling in while it’s open, so scrape of all the loose rubbish, degrease with “Gunk” (or similar) and a stiff brush, and give it a thorough rinse with a hose.

The standard transfer box has a dished circular plate at the rear which holds a bearing for the rear end of the gear box’s main shaft, secured by six studs and nuts. The nuts on my unit were 15mm, but I suspect most units have 9/16″ nuts. There are two inspection covers on the top of the transfer case, each secured with four studs and 1/2″ nuts. The rear bearing carrier and upper (left hand) inspection plate need to be removed.

With these two panels removed, the rear end of the gearbox main shaft and the transfer box input gear (on the main shaft) are visible. The gear is retained by a castellated nut, which in turn is secured with a tab washer. With the gear box and transfer box in neutral, rotate the main shaft until the one tab engaged in the nut. Once this tab is at the 12o’clock position, select 1st gear to lock the main shaft in place.

Use a hammer and drift to lever up the tab and then undo the castellated nut. This nut has a standard right hand thread but is on very tightly. LR have a special tool to fit the nut, but a hammer and drift (large flat screwdriver) work equally well through the top inspection aperture. Remove the nut, the tab washer, the spacer washer and the gear. Retain these with the bearing carrier.

Inspect the main shaft for wear - look at the splines and the rear bearing surface. It’s unlikely that there will be any major faults here, but it’s always worth checking. Also make sure that the condition of the “clutch sleeve”, which is the overdrive’s replacement for the input gear, is in good order - the fine outer splines are prone to wear. If more than 25% worn, I’d strongly recommend replacement. If you have a new tab washer for the overdrive, make sure you use this on assembly, as the standard tab washer’s tabs are too long and foul the inside of the overdrive’s shafts. If you do not have a dedicated overdrive tab washer and can only source a standard type, file 1mm off each tab end.
Thoroughly grease the overdrive’s clutch sleeve with LM grease internally and externally. Make sure that the exterior bearing is well packed as it will get little lubrication once the overdrive is installed. Fit the clutch sleeve with the outer splined end towards the rear of the vehicle, followed by the spacer washer, special tab washer and castellated nut. With the gear box still in 1st gear, use the special tool or hammer and drift to tighten the castle nut as much as possible and then tap in the tab which aligns (you may need to select neutral and rotate the main shaft again to find the aligned tab/slot, and even tap the castle nut slightly tighter or looser to get the alignment perfect).

Once the tab is engaged in the castle nut’s slot, refit the top inspection panel with a thick smear of grease on each side of the gasket. Fitting this panel now will help prevent foreign objects falling into the transfer case.

Now prepare for the overdrive fitting. The overdrive main shaft (input shaft), recessed inside the larger output shaft, must have a generous application of LM grease in the gearbox main shaft bearing (the perforated plastic surface as far in as possible) and around the splined areas where it engages on the clutch sleeve. Fit the gasket, again with a heavy smear of grease on each side, to the transfer case studs. Make sure the six nuts and lock washers are easily to hand. Ensure that the gear box and transfer box are in neutral.
Lift the overdrive into position from below the vehicle, carefully feeding the geared output shaft through the aperture. It should push most of the way in with little resistance, but may stop short. If this hang up occurs, it’s because either the output shaft gears have not meshed with the transfer box intermediate gear cluster or the overdrive’s main shaft and the clutch sleeve splines are not meshing. Either way, rotating the casing of the overdrive back and forth while easing it forward should cure the problem. If this is not possible because the casing is already on the studs, flicking the starter motor with 1st gear will do the trick. If it hangs up with about 1/2″ to go, then this is the castle nut tab washer catching on the main shaft - remember the standard tabs are too long.

With the overdrive butted up against the transfer case, fit the top pair of lock washer and nuts, only turning the nuts on a couple of turns to prevent any possibility of the overdrive falling out. Then slide the overdrive out against the nuts. The reason for doing this is that two of the studs have sections of overdrive casing behind them, and it’s impossible to get the nuts onto their studs with the overdrive fully seated. Once these two washers and nuts are fitted, wind them on, reseat the overdrive and fit all the washers and nuts, tightening them up in an “opposite pairs” sequence.

Fitting the lever is relatively simple with the box and floor in situ. Fit the bracket to the back of the gearbox upper housing with the two existing bolts. Drill a pilot hole at a point 108mm above the foot well floor and 54 mm(4cyl engines) or 41mm (6cyl engines) forward from the floor’s rear corner (not the back end of the tunnel as the seat base slopes) through the tunnel cover and just into the bracket.

Remove the bracket and measure where the drill mark is in relation to the bolt hole. Transfer these measurements onto the tunnel cover and these will be the pivot hole centre. Use a tank cutter to cut a 2″ hole at this point.

Accessories, FAQ, Transmission

---