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It took me a long time, 18 years to get the time and motivation to start the Land Rover Series 1 107 restoration. In that time the trees grew bigger and the bids made it their home. But eventually I pulled it into the garage and started the restoration

From the day that we rescued this Landy I had wanted to restore it.  You can see the story of where we found it and how it was recovered in the first video of this series Restoring a Legend. 

Series 1 107 History

I have always liked the look of the Series 1 pickup. I especially like the Series 1 107 Pickup as it was the first long wheelbase model introduced by Land Rover. It was introduced in 1954 and produced until 1956. In total there were just under 200 000 Series 1 Land Rovers produced. A total of 20345 of this Series 1 107 Basic model were produced. Mine is 1955 RHD Export. So it was assembled in Solihull and produced for export.

In 1954 the 80“ wheelbase was extended to 86” and a new model featuring a 107” wheelbase was introduced. It was available as a pickup only at first. Both new models had recessed door handles and a new instrument panel which are the major obvious differences

In 1956 the 107 Station Wagon was introduced and produced until 1958. In 1957 the Series 1 107 pickup was replaced by the Series 1 109 pickup.

Land Rover Series 1 107 Restoration

Having done a few restorations previously I knew what to expect. Between the beginning and the end there is a minefield of hard work, frustration  and money spent. It always takes longer than you think and costs more than you expect. So you need to be sure that you can finish before you start.

I decided to take this as a long term as I only have so much time to allocate to it and it would help to spread the cost out over time. The risk with this approach is that it takes so long that you lose interest. So I have had to find that sweet spot between having enough regular progress without making it feel onerous.

This restoration is particularly difficult as my vehicle was not 100% complete and had been abandoned and not running for decades.

For a few years before the restoration I gathered some of the parts I was going to need like the radiator panel, new bonnet and tailgate fittings. The two major parts I was missing were the rear axle and the engine. That wasn’t a big problem because I had decided to install a 2.25l engine and use Seres2/3 axles anyway.

Finally on November 9 2018, almost 18 years after recovering the Landy I pulled it into the garage to start the Land Rover Series 1 107 restoration. The first objective was to disassemble the entire vehicle down to the chassis. The task was surprisingly easy considering the vehicle had been unused and standing for at least 20-30 years if not a lot more.