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I started out doing Land-Rovers like everyone else. I had my truck, I had rebuilt it (frameover restoration with new wiring) and now I was getting cocky and looking for a new project. I was able to pick up 2 SIII's and and SIIa for pretty cheap. Although none were running, all were complete. My plan:
Build a SIII 88" for
my son to drive, using the best of the 2 SIII's (for trim and SIII specific
stuff) and use the best of the 3 for engine, axles, etc.
However, my does not
see the value or desirability of driving a manual transmission and a noisy
one at that. Nor does he have a strong interest in examining how things
work mechanically. On the other hand, he is extremely talented with
the horses and so, when he stated that what he really wanted was something
he could tow the horses with and preferably with an automatic transmission,
how could I object?
Curiously, that left me with a lot of spare Land-Rover parts. I had already taken one of the SIII engines to the machine shop for a rebuild and it was sitting on my shelf. For my own curiosity, I had taken apart the SIIa main gear box and transfer case to see what all was in there. Since it was already apart, I rebuilt the IIa main gearbox.
NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT...
Since I had been working mostly by myself, I had to remove the transmissions in pieces (ie take the transfer box off of the main gearbox before removal) and so I had 1 SIII transmission and 1 SIIa transmission in parts on my shelf. Over the Summer of 1998, I had developed a major leak where the main gearbox attached to the bellhousing--it turns out that one of the lock nuts holding the bellhousing on had come loose. So, after ANARC's Greek Peak--I decided to pull the transmission and fix the leak.
Since I already had a rebuilt motor on the shelf, I figured I put in the new engine, too. Finally, I had decided that the Brick would become my primary transportation so I purchased a Santana overdrive, hoping it would allow me to travel at near freeway speeds. To pay (mostly) for the Santana overdrive, I sold the nicer of the 2 SIII's (still assembled) to the son of a good friend of mine. In October of 1998, I went about performing a complete engine-tranny transplant.
After installing the engine and main gearbox, I inadvertantly picked up the SIII transfer box and promptly bolted it into place. After fighting a bit with the OD, I finally figured out the trick, installed it. After buttoning up everything, I realized I had the wrong transfer box on the suffix B SIIa main gearbox. What difference does it make? you might ask...plenty... in low range.
Someday I'll need to swap transmissions again and will put the correct suffix B transfer box gears back in, but until then, I'll run with what I have--which btw has been just fine.