Dominic Chinea has confessed he’s hit a “low point” while restoring a battered 1957 Series I Land Rover, having uncovered considerably more damage than anticipated.
The engineering specialist, widely recognised for his contributions to the BBC’s The Repair Shop, has been chronicling the meticulous reconstruction of the vehicle, which he found buried in a hedge near his Cornish residence.
In his latest update on the ambitious undertaking, Dominic revealed that plans had shifted after viewers urged him to address the rear section before completing work on the front.
“We are carrying on with my Series 1 Land Rover. In the last episode, we painted the bulkhead and the front panel in this slightly questionable pink apricot beige, but it’s quite pink. And I quite like the reference to the SAS Pink Panther Land Rovers, so that’s good,” he shared with his YouTube audience.
The 40-year-old television personality added that supporters had endorsed both the unconventional colour selection and his choice to prioritise the rear body tub, reports the Mirror.
Following the removal of the original rear tub and a comprehensive clean, Dominic had hoped to properly evaluate its state before refitting it. Unfortunately, decades of weathering had inflicted substantial damage.
“This is, as far as I’m aware, the original rear tub to the car, and I’m very pleased to say that it is going back in place. But unfortunately, those 25-plus years sitting outside in the Cornish weather have not done it any favours at all,” he revealed. After the component had been pressure washed and brought back to the workshop, the full extent of the challenge became clear.
“I’ve got the rear tub back in the workshop and precariously on the workbench to start dismantling. And from the highs of last week and getting the new can of paint, painting the new panels and everything going fantastically well, with it all looking beautiful, today unfortunately is a low point of any restoration project,” he said.
The discovery meant Dominic was now confronting considerably more work than he’d originally expected.
He said: “This rear tub is a lot worse than I was ever hoping. I genuinely thought it was going to be okay. I knew there were a few little bits here and there, but now I’ve cleaned it and had a proper look, I can already see how much trouble I’m going to be in with this.”
He explained that the entire assembly would require complete dismantling down to its individual parts.
He said: “I’m going to have to strip this right down. And I mean unpicking spot welds, drilling out rivets and stripping it completely. I will try and keep as much as I possibly can, but pretty much every panel has got some kind of damage, some worse than others. None of them are particularly good.
“It’s extremely daunting.”
This latest hurdle isn’t the first challenge Dominic has faced during the restoration. The vehicle’s chassis had already been discovered to be completely rotten after spending years partially submerged in undergrowth, making it one of the most demanding restorations he’s undertaken in recent years.
Just weeks earlier, he also disclosed that he’d accidentally caused damage to the Land Rover’s seat base while lifting the component, leading him to contemplate seeking assistance from fellow Repair Shop specialist Sonnaz Nooranvary before wrapping up the project.
Beyond the workshop, Dominic is an avid enthusiast of vintage machinery. His personal collection boasts a 1957 Porsche 356A, multiple Land Rovers, a Volkswagen camper, a 1958 VW split bus, and a 1936 BSA motorbike.
He’s also in the process of restoring an early-1980s Volkswagen Caddy pickup alongside the hedge-discovered Land Rover.
Source: The Repair Shop’s Dominic Chinea faces low point as he issues trouble prediction