Gearbox Refitting - Part 3

Another fruitful session today

Both propshafts are now back and most of the wiring and linkages are back in place as well.
 

Prior to refitting the rear propshaft Steve recommended that we refurbished the transmission brake because as he said "Any problem we find now will take 10 minutes and it will take an hour later".

Two of the linkages were a bit stiff so Steve knocked out the pins and we cleaned them up with some sandpaper and applied grease and now it's moving easily. A good clean of everything inside with brake cleaner and everything is all silky smooth and should last a good while

Also I popped into what is fast becoming my local corner shop (Bearmach) and picked up some air filter mounting bushes so they've been replaced and things should be quite a bit less rattly under the bonnet as you can see

There's a lot of interior to refit and an AWFUL lot of cleaning needed before the Mrs will let us use it as a camper again, but I certainly feel that we're on the home straight and getting ready for proper adventures.
So What have I learned in all of this ?

1. Unless you know what you are doing get a reconditioned unit - with that amount of work you don't want to risk having to do it again - this is especially the case if you are paying to have it changed, in that case using a second hand one seems false economy
2. The flexible rachet spanner set I bought from Halfords haa been invaluable - they are open spanners one end and the rachet on a flexible joint the other - I woudl say a must have bit of kit for anyone's toolbox
3. I need a decent socket set for those things that the spanners are not good at - mine is too small and cheap
4. Lifting the heavy bits could be done by one person, but it would be incredibly hard - you really need 2 people for this part of this job to do it safely
5. Given all that work, Steve was abolsultey right that changing the clutch, fork and slipper pads etc. is a sensible thing to do while you are there
6. Taking the whole transmission tunnel off would maybe have made more sense than the keyhole job we did. (I've read up on this since I did it)
7. Rule one of finding an expert to work with was definitely the right thing to do, if you can find one in a LR club or forum you should. If you can't I wish you luck and hope this is useful
8. Some people may be able to do this in a day, but if you are a newbie like me plan on 3 long and very hard days
9. And lastly, and most important ENJOY IT ! - It's your Land Rover and working on it should be as much fun as driving it. I really enjoyed my time with Steve

Update!

Since writing this I have found that others have found the information useful so I have added a few clarifications.above.

You can find other writeups at these locations
http://www.landroverexpedition.com/technical/replacing-the-gearbox-clutch-and-transfer-box/
http://www.repairmylandrover.co.uk/defender-repairguides/guide-to-defender-propshaft-removal
http://www.expeditionlandrover.info/gear_ratio.htm