Thanks George. It is a good idea if all else fails. It's not an emergency as it will probably be next year before I finish putting it all back together!

Thanks Dave,

I am trying to keep to as original spec as possible but SS is great if decent quality like DoubleS.

I have been trying to track down ESR3197 which is the back box for the early cars with single pipe. This is NLA everywhere I have tried and ESR3538 is the replacement but in some pictures of it it seems to have a straight end to the tailpipe which probably won't clear the early rear bumper cut out.
Anyone had any experience with the replacement part on an early car?

Thanks.

Very happy to host a pub meet. I'm a couple of miles from Dorking. Reasonable amount of parking space so why not?

A couple of pics of the end result of getting the gearbox in yesterday with the brilliant aid of Rob plus a bit shiny stuff.

Should have added that turning the crank over at the same time made a difference. A tip from Rob's friend John.

Hoorah, the gearbox is in.

Thanks to Romanrob's skill and patient approach we managed to edge it in.

It may have been that the clutch plate wasn't perfectly aligned so whilst one depressed the clutch lever courtesy of the jack handle the other aligned the plate and then we edged the box into the bush using longer bolts to maintain a decent alignment and act as guides.

I couldn't have managed without Rob so a big thank you to him. It really is a two man job.

It was an oem seal and the ends did locate in but just seemed to hold the gasket up.

No, that was just to illustrate that the seal didn't sit properly.

Hi Harv,

I tried it with the usual set up as per RAVE and setting the manifold on without torquing down the end seals and trying to get the bolts aligned but it was nowhere near. Even juggling around with bolt locations it wouldn't have it. With a blue bag gasket and no end seals it all lines up perfectly so maybe I'll try some cheap end seals.

I've been fiddling around trying to get the inlet manifold to sit properly. Used OEM gasket and end seals but the bolt holes wouldn't line up.
The problem seems to be the end seals won't allow the manifold to sit in the V even with the end seal torqued down.
There is a dab of RTV in the angles but not that much.
Should I just slice the excess off?

Many thanks Rob.

I'll shout if I'm trapped under a transfer case!

Thank you for the kind words.

It has become a bit of an obsession such as trying to match the greenish/khaki paint on the brake and fuel lines.

It probably is going to be a show pony so it's unlikely to be seen up to it's axles in a muddy pool.
It seems to have spent some of it's life as a launch vehicle for boats into the sea judging by the amount of sand in the spare wheel well.

The Dunsfold Collection have one which I must get down to see for some details.

If anyone is passing the Dorking area in Surrey you are most welcome to call in for a post lock down tea or beer.

Well, it's been a while but things are gradually coming together.

As I'm probably the least competent person of the group it all takes a lot longer than it should. I order the gaskets for the inlet manifold and forget to order the new bolts. I order the bolts and then find the bolts I ordered six months ago.

The biggest battle has been getting the air suspension pipes through the gap between the chassis and the body. As all the body mount bolts were out I put a couple of lifting eyes in the body mount holes at the rear and gingerly lifted the body a couple of inches to get decent access. It seemed to work out fine and no nasty creases in the body!

I've taken loads of pictures of bits of rusting metal but found the bit you want when reassembling is always just out of shot.

Anyway a few pics of it so far.

Looks very smart.

Glad to see the Nurofen close at hand. I think there is a LR part number for them.

Thanks Marshall,

I got the feeling it was a better choice.

Does anyone have any favourite sealant for the early non gasket sump? The choice seems to be between Hylosil 601 or 606 according to the manual or Loctite 5900.

The fuel tank cleaned up reasonably well as its plastic .

I've extracted the fuel pipes and whilst there were some pits in them there wasn't anything too worrying so I cleaned them up and repainted them with a finish coat of a khaki sort of colour that looked original

I was wondering if, as all the body to chassis bolts are out, I could use the engine hoist to lift the back of the body by the two threaded holes in the boot. Just a few mil would help.