Would Fitting A Fairey Overdrive Make A Difference To My Series Land Rover?
With fuel prices as high as they are, an overdrive is undoubtedly one of the best accessories you can fit to a Series Land Rover. The extra gearing will not improve fuel economy, it will boost performance as well. Overdrives, which became an approved conversion and factory fitted option in 1974, can be fitted relatively simply to 4 cylinder petrol and diesel engined Series 2, 2A and 3 vehicles. The unit literally bolts onto the rear of the transfer box; the trickiest part is cutting the hole in the transmission tunnel for your new gear stick. The gearing is changed by 28 per cent, the overdrive effectively provided 16 extra forward gears and 4 more for reverse. The biggest gains are in faster and more comfortable cruising and a slight increase in top speed. In a petrol engined Series Land Rover flat out is 70mph, but with the overdrive fitted this speed is achievable as a comfortable cruising speed.
