Classic Aston Martin V8's
Discussion
CQ8 said:
As I was now keeping the GKN wheels, I needed to have a look at what I actually had. Five wheels came with the car, four were the correct earlier style to accept a tubed tyre and the last was from a later V8 for a tubeless tyre. They were in poor cosmetic condition but looked solid. The later wheel is the bottom right, without a lip around the outside edge of the rim and now ridges on the outside of the internal spokes.
I was recommended Prestine wheels in Milton Keynes by a number of people and a phone call confirmed they were the right people for the job. I took them up there and we went through the different finishes available. Although when new the wheels were finished in a sort of cream colour (which I had on my DBS V8 - see photo on page 1), I don't like that finish. So I went for a finish that was 80% silver with a small amount of anthracite and diamond finish around the edges of the rim. It's come out a little darker than I'd like but I'm happy with the result.
Wheels look great, do you mind saying how much they charged, I have some similar ones that need doing.I was recommended Prestine wheels in Milton Keynes by a number of people and a phone call confirmed they were the right people for the job. I took them up there and we went through the different finishes available. Although when new the wheels were finished in a sort of cream colour (which I had on my DBS V8 - see photo on page 1), I don't like that finish. So I went for a finish that was 80% silver with a small amount of anthracite and diamond finish around the edges of the rim. It's come out a little darker than I'd like but I'm happy with the result.
ndtman said:
Great updates. Silver on black plates although, as you say are, correct seem to date the car too much if that makes sense
jamesson said:
Silver and black plates look soooooo much better than white and yellow.
I can really see the benefits of both options! I like the silver on black, that's what I had on my DBS V8 and they looked right. My main issue with them on the AM V8 relates to the rear valance. On the DBS V8, the spare wheel sits upright against the fuel tank so the rear valence is thin as there is not much to cover below the rear bumper. Whereas on the AM V8 the spare wheel was moved and sits flat in the boot floor, requiring a bigger valance to cover the spare wheel well.The middle section of the rear valance, where the plate sits, is now larger than a standard UK number plate. So if you put a regular sized one in there, the number plate is too small and looks abit lost. I saw my car today and it just didn't look right.
I didn't take a picture of mine but I saw this 1973 V8 at the Bonhams Auction in 2016 and it had the same issue:
It's not the best photo but you can see the outline of the area and there is quite a gap between the top and bottom of the plates and the border. The cars I've seen have with the white and yellow plates, seem to have a custom size for the rear yellow plate which fills the entire space. Here's the same car, currently for sale, but now fitted with white and yellow plates, and here is the larger yellow rear:
As the single headlight cars were produced all the way through to the late 1980's, they are perhaps best fitted with the later style white and yellow plates? I'm really torn on this. Maybe the solution is to see if I can get hold of a larger rear silver on black plate, and a set of the white and yellow plates.
CQ8 said:
Maybe the solution is to see if I can get hold of a larger rear silver on black plate
That's what I would do. I see what you're saying about the normal plate size looking not quite right. I'm sure someone can do a made to measure silver on black. The yellow just attracts the eye too much and detracts from the car in my opinion.Thank you for the words of encouragement.
We are really getting close to finishing. The restorer is currently testing all the switches and other items within the electrical system to make sure everything is working. It's a massive fault finding mission because despite the harness being brand new, there are still issues with it. Or there's issues with the switches. Or the component itself that has an issue. The wiring diagram is no help at all and the manufacturer of the harness will not accept that their product is not 100% perfect. So it's a time consuming job that doesn't have the satisfaction of seeing another piece bolted to the car. Fortunately the restorer is incredibly patient and is working through it all wire by wire.
Lights are in and the "To Do" list actually looks reasonable. It could be done by the end of next month...
We are really getting close to finishing. The restorer is currently testing all the switches and other items within the electrical system to make sure everything is working. It's a massive fault finding mission because despite the harness being brand new, there are still issues with it. Or there's issues with the switches. Or the component itself that has an issue. The wiring diagram is no help at all and the manufacturer of the harness will not accept that their product is not 100% perfect. So it's a time consuming job that doesn't have the satisfaction of seeing another piece bolted to the car. Fortunately the restorer is incredibly patient and is working through it all wire by wire.
Lights are in and the "To Do" list actually looks reasonable. It could be done by the end of next month...
CQ8 said:
classicaholic said:
Wheels look great, do you mind saying how much they charged, I have some similar ones that need doing.
I've checked the invoice, and for 5 wheels with tyre valves the price was £354 including VAT.Looking forward to seeing the car finished.
It's been a while so time for an update on the work...
August 2019
Exhaust manifolds installed after fitting the new studs.
Exhaust heat shields: These were missing and all that could be found on-line were for later cars which will not fit. We have made these to original shape and dimensions and fitted the front and rear sections with spacers. We are in the process of making the two middle sections.
Wiring for the Bonnet Light was completed
August 2019
Exhaust manifolds installed after fitting the new studs.
Exhaust heat shields: These were missing and all that could be found on-line were for later cars which will not fit. We have made these to original shape and dimensions and fitted the front and rear sections with spacers. We are in the process of making the two middle sections.
Wiring for the Bonnet Light was completed
The Speedo drive saga....
As mentioned earlier, one of the parts we were missing for the 72 V8 was the speedo drive for the manual ZF box. Nobody in the UK had one however, I managed to track down one in the USA with a Maserati specialist (the ZF Box was also fitted to the Khamsin and Kyalami).
But we have a problem! Basically the unit is the correct one, but does not fit all the way into the gearbox casing. We have spent quite some time on this problem and after making a dummy shaft we have concluded that the external gear has the wrong number of teeth to mesh with the worm drive inside the gearbox. The drive assembly would be a universal unit but the gear and the worm drive inside the gearbox are matched together so they will mesh giving a specific ratio to drive the speedo, which in turn is specific to each manufacturer( Aston Martin, Maserati , Mercedes etc) using the same model ZF gearbox.
On discussion with a UK Aston specialist, he contacted a source at ZF and turned up another speedo drive. It was different to the first one so we had high hopes but sadly this one would not mesh with the teeth inside the gearbox either!
Here's a pic to illustrate the issue:
As you can see, visually the speedo drive supplied by ZF via the specialist is different from the one purchased direct from the Maserati supplier in America, they look the same but are different lengths. The shorter one on the left (from ZF) is the opposite hand too.
However, although the gears are the same diameter the number of teeth per gear are different being 11 or 9.
We would have been stuck but fortunately I have the V8 Vantage project. We extracted the speedo drive from that and it slotted straight in! This head has 10 teeth per gear. The restorer would have been happy to leave it at that and move on but that would just leave with the same problem down the line. So we decided to send the speedo drive from the Vantage to a machining company to make a new one.
The restorer sent it via recorded delivery..... and it got lost!
You couldn't make it up. So we decided the only option was to try and remake it using the two incorrect ones as a template but finishing with a 10 teeth head. The two parts were couriered this time to the machining company. As we waited for them to start work, miraculously the correct speedo drive from the V8 Vantage was found! Phew! This saga was dragged out over the course of a month, so although it doesn't seem like long when I type it, believe me there were many nights of being seriously annoyed!!
The machine shop delivered the new drive, which was slotted in the V8 and fitted perfectly. The V8 Vantage one was returned to the car and the incorrect one from ZF was returned for a refund.
Another problem solved.
As mentioned earlier, one of the parts we were missing for the 72 V8 was the speedo drive for the manual ZF box. Nobody in the UK had one however, I managed to track down one in the USA with a Maserati specialist (the ZF Box was also fitted to the Khamsin and Kyalami).
But we have a problem! Basically the unit is the correct one, but does not fit all the way into the gearbox casing. We have spent quite some time on this problem and after making a dummy shaft we have concluded that the external gear has the wrong number of teeth to mesh with the worm drive inside the gearbox. The drive assembly would be a universal unit but the gear and the worm drive inside the gearbox are matched together so they will mesh giving a specific ratio to drive the speedo, which in turn is specific to each manufacturer( Aston Martin, Maserati , Mercedes etc) using the same model ZF gearbox.
On discussion with a UK Aston specialist, he contacted a source at ZF and turned up another speedo drive. It was different to the first one so we had high hopes but sadly this one would not mesh with the teeth inside the gearbox either!
Here's a pic to illustrate the issue:
As you can see, visually the speedo drive supplied by ZF via the specialist is different from the one purchased direct from the Maserati supplier in America, they look the same but are different lengths. The shorter one on the left (from ZF) is the opposite hand too.
However, although the gears are the same diameter the number of teeth per gear are different being 11 or 9.
We would have been stuck but fortunately I have the V8 Vantage project. We extracted the speedo drive from that and it slotted straight in! This head has 10 teeth per gear. The restorer would have been happy to leave it at that and move on but that would just leave with the same problem down the line. So we decided to send the speedo drive from the Vantage to a machining company to make a new one.
The restorer sent it via recorded delivery..... and it got lost!
You couldn't make it up. So we decided the only option was to try and remake it using the two incorrect ones as a template but finishing with a 10 teeth head. The two parts were couriered this time to the machining company. As we waited for them to start work, miraculously the correct speedo drive from the V8 Vantage was found! Phew! This saga was dragged out over the course of a month, so although it doesn't seem like long when I type it, believe me there were many nights of being seriously annoyed!!The machine shop delivered the new drive, which was slotted in the V8 and fitted perfectly. The V8 Vantage one was returned to the car and the incorrect one from ZF was returned for a refund.
Another problem solved.
Cool thread.
I did a fair bit of work on one last year, had been left and the fuel surge tank was rusted inside. Car had been sat inside but out of fuel. Owner chucked some fuel in & then the fun started as the rust blocked the pump screens and the fuel turned brown and everything was a mess.
The fuel injection setup is pretty fun on them!
I did a fair bit of work on one last year, had been left and the fuel surge tank was rusted inside. Car had been sat inside but out of fuel. Owner chucked some fuel in & then the fun started as the rust blocked the pump screens and the fuel turned brown and everything was a mess.
The fuel injection setup is pretty fun on them!
October 2019
We are in that exciting stage of refitting bits to the car, which really helps you see the progress you are making. Things like lights, bumpers, radiator grill, badges etc.
You can see in this shot of the rear the larger number plate fitted. This fills the aperture and looks much better than the standard size number plate.
I have also ordered a complete stainless steel exhaust system for the car. The exhausts for the early mechanical fuel injection cars are different to the later carb'd cars so it's important you get the right one as these are not off the shelf items and are custom made. Here it is all in the box and ready to be fitted.
We are in that exciting stage of refitting bits to the car, which really helps you see the progress you are making. Things like lights, bumpers, radiator grill, badges etc.
You can see in this shot of the rear the larger number plate fitted. This fills the aperture and looks much better than the standard size number plate.
I have also ordered a complete stainless steel exhaust system for the car. The exhausts for the early mechanical fuel injection cars are different to the later carb'd cars so it's important you get the right one as these are not off the shelf items and are custom made. Here it is all in the box and ready to be fitted.
uncleluck said:
Cool thread.
I did a fair bit of work on one last year, had been left and the fuel surge tank was rusted inside. Car had been sat inside but out of fuel. Owner chucked some fuel in & then the fun started as the rust blocked the pump screens and the fuel turned brown and everything was a mess.
The fuel injection setup is pretty fun on them!
That sounds like a nightmare! Yes, the fuel injection system requires a lot of fiddling to get set up correctly but it is possible with the right tools.I did a fair bit of work on one last year, had been left and the fuel surge tank was rusted inside. Car had been sat inside but out of fuel. Owner chucked some fuel in & then the fun started as the rust blocked the pump screens and the fuel turned brown and everything was a mess.
The fuel injection setup is pretty fun on them!
CQ8 said:
That sounds like a nightmare! Yes, the fuel injection system requires a lot of fiddling to get set up correctly but it is possible with the right tools.
Yeah, It’s worth keeping an eye on yours as they rot well and they’re baffled so was a pain to clean. I think he should have had a new one made up honestly as looking at the fuel filter it’d been sending a tea of rust through the fuel system before as the filter was sludged with it too. Be a shame for yours to have done the same if it’s been dry in there?Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff