yes I have loaned some stuff over the years and people lost it or moved and conveniently forgot to return it etc.
ok the unit is on, these are the sites I used for reference if anyone as equally mechanically challenged as I am fancies having a go.
nicks site, good in depth write up, pay particular attention to what he says about pulling it back once fitted to get the two difficult nuts on
Fairey Overdrive Fitting ? Nick's Land Rover - Series III rebuild and restoration
this other one, not as detailed but the best one to read first as it isn't as heavy
Fitting a Fairey Overdrive to a Series 3 Land Rover
I am sure they have probably been posted before.
Anyway, thanks to the ****tus thickus that fiddled with it before and didn't see the need to fit a pto gasket or any instant gasket, that also put the lock tab washer back on even though he had broken off the locking tab. Consequently the castellated nut was easy to undo. Could have been anyone in its history I suppose, the po could have been as blissfully unaware as I was.
from what I could see of my gearbox it looked to be fairly good, no obvious missing teeth or anything.
On fitting the od to the box, the last half inch was a pain, I checked to see if any of the washer tabs could be stopping it going on all the way, didn't seem so. Got it on all the way in the end by sticking it in first - transfer box in neutral - then with one hand on the back of the od pushing and the other on the starter button pressing intermittently it slotted in after a few goes.
Would have been slightly easier to get it all the way on with a second person but not much.
just got to sort the linkage out now. None of the hardware shops round here even knew what a clevis pin was never mind stocking them.
So I might just use a couple of nuts and bolts till the ones I have ordered arrive.
Managed to free the pivot bolt from the linkage and gave it a good greasing.