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After spending early 1974 as standby locomotive but without being used, the return to traffic of [[46443]] allowed a major overhaul to begin. It was initially thought that this would mainly involve heavy boiler repairs together with re-metalling the motion and a tender overhaul and would take "''most of the year''".<ref>SVR News 31</ref> The tender work included reconstructing the badly wasted sub-frames and fitting a new bottom to the tank and coal space.<ref>SVR News 33</ref> By September 1975 the boiler has been almost completely re-stayed and a successful hydraulic test carried out, while the estimated completion date had moved to 1977.<ref>SVR News 37</ref>
When the valves and pistons were removed in early 1976, a visitor who had formerly worked at Tyseley Depot remarked "''They've had their chips, valve faces worn out''".<ref name =SVR39/> Remedying this required removal and splitting of the two halves of the cylinder block to fit new iron faces on which the slide valve operate. At that time the casting of replacement cylinders was considered all but impossible. It is thought that this repair may have been the first time in standard gauge preservation that a cylinder block was split. Nowadays, of course, the fitting of replacement cylinders is becoming the norm. The cylinders had been split by autumn 1976<ref>Picture in SVR News 41</ref> and work had begun on the new valve face castings by the following spring.<ref>SVR News 43</ref> Work continued slowly and carefully, and by the end of 1977 the cylinders had been bolted back together, placed in the frames, re-aligned and fitted bolts put in place. Work on the axle boxes had also been completed allowing the locomotive to be re-wheeled on 31 December 1977 using the newly-acquired [[Cowans Sheldon 30-ton steam crane RS 1091|30 ton steam crane]].<ref>SVR News 46</ref>
Re-assembly continued the following year and by autumn 1978 the mechanical side of 3205's overhaul was complete, but a decision had been made to re-tube the boiler, the thinness of the flue tubes when removed underlining the wisdom of this.<ref>SVR News 49</ref> A third hydraulic test during the extensive refit was passed in late August 1979 and the boiler reunited with the frames for the first time for 5 years (SVR News commented that by this time, a test of one's SVR seniority could be based on whether or not you could remember 3205 in its complete state!).<ref>SVR News 53</ref> The marathon overhaul was finally completed in late 1979, with the locomotive recording just 2 miles in service.
