Reply To: Restoration or transfer: Land Rover
Hello Jeremy,
I think you are close to answering your initial question yourself. What ever you do will involve a lot of work, time and money but having done two and being well into a third I have to say it is worthwhile.
This was originally a 6 pot Station Wagon which I converted using a selection of Dormobile bits acquired from a variety of sources (Jabbawoky, ebay, Tim at Dormobile, scrap vehicles etc)….
The base vehicle was rebuilt from the chassis up over a winter then using it for two seasons of family camping holidays before replacing it with ‘Bea’ …
Bea is very original and is probably the oldest surviving Land Rover Dormobile she is still used for family camping holidays, but has required a substantial amount of remedial work to the chassis, engine, brakes and suspension to get to this state.
Restoration of these fine beasts is not for the faint hearted and it has cost me a fortune in time and money, the cost of restoring any Land Rover will never be repaid by a selling value, you can buy a new chassis, have Mr Morris build you a new galvanised bulkhead and spend many thousands of pounds, but the finished Dormobile is still only going to be worth what someone will pay for it. I have mine insured for a reasonable sum as an agreed value but I would not realistically expect to acheive that sum on selling.
If you decide to go ahead with a restoration I suggest you speak with Richards Chassis they will build a correct to year export chassis but will adapt to your personal requirements regarding engine mounts, handbrake position etc.
Maybe I am a sucker for punishment but I am now in the process of turning a 1982 Series 3 109 V9 Stage 1 into a Dormobile. I am using a roof that I am restoring using new reproduction bits from Tim DeBrues at Dormobile and new reproduction furniture units also from Tim. One of the wonders of the Land Rover Dormobile conversions is that they are still being produced (to order) but also that just about all the ‘genuine’ dormobile bits are still produced.
Hope thats some help, if you want any more information or photos of whats involved in a chassis up rebuild drop us an email.
Regards
Phil
