Rather sad looking DB9...
Discussion
Update - Had my first driver re-training lesson today... Much to my wife's surprise the instructor said that I was one of the best disabled drivers she had ever taught. However... I do have to inform DVLA about my using hand controls and that will probably mean another driver assessment - the last one was 16yrs ago so I can't really complain! It just means a few more days or weeks until I am let loose on the roads in Kent. And a bit longer until I can visit dealers, mobility specialists and so on to sort out my wheelchair carriage problem. :-(
But at least I'm moving forward in my ambition to get behind the wheel of a true fantasy!
A BIG thank you to all the forum members for their support, encouragement and pointers to folks who might be able to assist me in my searches for Aston improvement and access! It genuinely does help and what's even more important, it boosts my morale no end! Cheers guys, I owe you!
But at least I'm moving forward in my ambition to get behind the wheel of a true fantasy!
A BIG thank you to all the forum members for their support, encouragement and pointers to folks who might be able to assist me in my searches for Aston improvement and access! It genuinely does help and what's even more important, it boosts my morale no end! Cheers guys, I owe you!
Congrats Mark.
Hope you get everything as you want it with the car and get to enjoy it fully.
Wouldn't worry about the paint - it looks a lot better than my 2007 V8V's...(Aston - no matter how boring it becomes I will never tire of calling you out on your absolutely shoddy paint...the biggest reason why I will never buy another one of your products).
Hope you get everything as you want it with the car and get to enjoy it fully.
Wouldn't worry about the paint - it looks a lot better than my 2007 V8V's...(Aston - no matter how boring it becomes I will never tire of calling you out on your absolutely shoddy paint...the biggest reason why I will never buy another one of your products).
My car went into my local dealer, who managed to scuff it for the umpteenth time, they had it back and mopped it. Holograming like a b
h now and took a small bit of paint off the rear corner!! Still awaiting the call back over a week later. Took most of the holograms out by hand but it don't want to give it to much welly as I'm scared that there isn't much lacquer left on the car. How hard did you press and what did you use?
Thanks
h now and took a small bit of paint off the rear corner!! Still awaiting the call back over a week later. Took most of the holograms out by hand but it don't want to give it to much welly as I'm scared that there isn't much lacquer left on the car. How hard did you press and what did you use?Thanks
Jonsv8 said:
This was the finish from the dealer/factory and I wasn't happy. They had it back and had it detailed it and the buffer trails went
But what really really really pisses me off is that a year later the ceramic protection they put on had worn off in places (fair enough) so I used a very soft pad, anti hologram polish and a days work got the car better than they delivered it... still not paddy spec everywhere but getting close to how it should have been originally
But what really really really pisses me off is that a year later the ceramic protection they put on had worn off in places (fair enough) so I used a very soft pad, anti hologram polish and a days work got the car better than they delivered it... still not paddy spec everywhere but getting close to how it should have been originally
huggy1 said:
My car went into my local dealer, who managed to scuff it for the umpteenth time, they had it back and mopped it. Holograming like a bh now and took a small bit of paint off the rear corner!! Still awaiting the call back over a week later. Took most of the holograms out by hand but it don't want to give it to much welly as I'm scared that there isn't much lacquer left on the car. How hard did you press and what did you use?
Thanks
I'm no expert so a very very big caveat that if in doubt, get professional advice.h now and took a small bit of paint off the rear corner!! Still awaiting the call back over a week later. Took most of the holograms out by hand but it don't want to give it to much welly as I'm scared that there isn't much lacquer left on the car. How hard did you press and what did you use?Thanks
Jonsv8 said:
This was the finish from the dealer/factory and I wasn't happy. They had it back and had it detailed it and the buffer trails went
But what really really really pisses me off is that a year later the ceramic protection they put on had worn off in places (fair enough) so I used a very soft pad, anti hologram polish and a days work got the car better than they delivered it... still not paddy spec everywhere but getting close to how it should have been originally
But what really really really pisses me off is that a year later the ceramic protection they put on had worn off in places (fair enough) so I used a very soft pad, anti hologram polish and a days work got the car better than they delivered it... still not paddy spec everywhere but getting close to how it should have been originally
I spoke to autobrite in Stoke and bought their own make black and green pads (it seems that colours aren't quite universal for hardness) and their final finish and a very slightly stronger compound from their range. I used a rotary as that's all I have. I didn't push very hard, just enough to lightly compress the pad. I only used the green where holograms were bad.
I didn't remove much and swirl marks are visible under some lighting. I'm not sure the best way to describe it but it was more a case of a good polish and less defect removal resulting in the mirror finish from a couple of meters but close up someone like paddy would still spot work needed.
Hope that helps?
OK Ffolkes,
As many of you requested updates - and as I'm still hopelessly besotted with my Aston - here's the latest news...
The first job on my list was to sort out the overly firm suspension. When I first got behind the wheel, out on the road as opposed to on the drive - a process that took about 2 months (having to fit hand controls and eventually get some driving lessons after 2yrs off the road, due to my having a slightly paranoid wife!) - my first impressions were that this car had had a sports or track upgrade as it seemed incredibly firm. Having then had an Aston tech and a friend with a DB9 take it out for a spin I learned that this is how they all ride... My wife, who's had 2 low back surgeries, only added to my intent to find a way to make it somewhat more compliant. The first route was with AM - £4-5,000. Pass! The second was the aftermarket option - £2-3,000. Pass again! (I said I was a cheapskate! Out of necessity, you may remember). Then it was a matter of searching the Web for a UK based company who could modify the stock system. I had learned that softer dampers rather than springs was what I should look for. Again the answers were typically out of my budget or "we can't do that" until I found company A (ask for Curtis), who could calibrate the dampers on a suspension dynamometer and then adjust the oil levels to achieve my aim of a more compliant ride.
OK, now to remove the dampers and ship them off. As a wheelchair user this wasn't going to be easy! Fortunately my stepson has built his own BMW 3-series drift car (in our drive!, much to the chagrin of his mother!) and he was willing to lend a hand (ie. do it for me!). It was very frustrating for him as the wheel well liner bolts were almost all either seized or would rotate endlessly and in the end he cut out sections of the liner to get to the relevant mountings. Yes, he's not blessed with a huge amount of patience...
2 weeks later and they've been refitted and "disaster"! The steering is so sensitive the car's almost undrivable over 70mph! Easily cured by a full realignment, thank god. Then I realised the error of my ways in having specified 25% softer damping. I should have gone for 10-15% maximum as the front valance constantly grounds over speed bumps and driveway exits. Ah well, at least company A installed plugs into the dampers so they can be modified again without removal. You live and learn, I guess...
I will drive up to Norfolk in the next few months and have them pump in a bit more oil which should get me back to a more satisfactory compromise. I only WISH they had told me about the alternative adjustable dampers they can supply for £800 BEFORE they had started work on mine... Serves me right for having given them such a precise description of what I wanted!
Some of you might have suggested smaller wheels with a higher profile tyre, an idea that I initially dismissed because of the likely cost. But then I am due to get new tyres at some point this year so a few months ago (Boxing Day, in fact) when I saw a full set of 18" rims from a Vantage which would fit my DB9 at a starting price of £220, I couldn't pass them up! And with it being Boxing Day, of course I got them... for the starting bid! All I need now is to save up for a set of 18" Michelin Pilot Super Sports from company B at significantly under £700 supply only and I'm all set.
Then I had to get the interior leather fixed (worn through panels on the driver's seat and fag/cigarette burns on the rear seat). Again I trawled the Web and found company C (Lee is their leather trim technician) who did this work and would also recover the black leather dashboard panels which were peeling back at the edges. All for under £400 - I was chuffed! Except that that, to keep the car on the road, I temporarily swapped the passenger seat over to the driver's side and had to cut the wire going to the seat-belt clip which has still not been reconnected and results in a constant airbag warning on the dash. (note to self - get that reconnected pronto. Your mot is due soon!)
As for the wheelchair issue, after days of eBay searching, I finally came across a manual chair that was both cheap, small and therefore would hopefully fit in the car. After hours of experimentation I finally found a way to fit the chassis into the boot (trunk) but the wheels had nowhere to go but on the rear seats. Not elegant but who uses them anyway?
Then I set about finding a way to improve the standard satnav, which in my opinion is an abomination. The approach I decided on was be to replace the factory screen with another 5" version with far better resolution from eBay which would also include a 2nd input for a reversing camera. All the components, including the camera and a wireless connection to the screen, come to a measly £50. Not bad if you're vaguely competent at diy! Ok, I know I'll need some help... So far I have removed the satnav unit (whilst disassembling the dash to get the 2 panels out for recovering) but I haven't got any further because I can't find out how to take it apart and I'm terrified that, if I attempt it without knowing the process, I could end up with all the gear mechanism in pieces on my desk and no idea how to put it back together again! I've searched but no joy. Any ideas gratefully received...
Next I was told by a fellow motorist that one of my rear lights was out so I duly drove to the main dealer a few days later and asked for a couple of rear light bulbs. Yes, I know! Sealed led units for £450 + vat per side!! Fortunately eBay once again saved the day with a very clean used pair for £200. I'm optimistic that I'll be able to open the old faulty unit and repair it - loads of how-to's on YouTube btw. In fact may be able to re-use the old unit straight away as, when I took it off, there was a whole mass of soggy gutter debris wrapped around the connector which might have been shorting the unit. I haven't resolved this yet because the connector wouldn't make a positive connection more than once in a dozen attempts. I asked the main dealer for pin information on the connector and, before I knew it, they had it back in and all bolted up. Fantastic! Except they had fitted the new unit from eBay and I wanted to check the old one out and maybe not even use the eBay ones at all! However it would have been enormously ungrateful for me to complain so I'll just add that to my to-do list!
Lastly, I had to get a 40k service done on the engine. The car has done 72k (as those of you who looked at the original advert for the car might have seen) but the engine was replaced under warranty at about 30k as shown in the service book. I don't believe in sealed for life drivetrain components so I wanted the differential fluid changed too. Once again I looked for an independent specialist and found Chris at company D, through a Pistonheads recommendation, who did a superb job at a very reasonable price - half that of a main dealer (with genuine parts and quality consumables sourced online that I supplied). I can't recommend him highly enough!
So now I still have to figure out how to do the satnav screen swap and get started on the paint issue. With the latter, I've decided to do patch repairs on the areas of bubbling myself (Nobody, and I mean NOBODY was even slightly interested in anything other than a full respray, even though I said I didn't expect any kind of guarantee!) and then I will get the car sprayed by company E with their rubber based, fuel resistant, peelable product for about £1500, including door shuts. I know that the finish I will get with my little airbrush setup will never be anywhere near as good as the factory finish (should I laugh at this point??) but hey, this is an 11 year old car that I bought for £24k. So I don't expect either Lionel Martin or David Brown to start turning in their graves!
All done and I'm a very happy bunny with my beautiful (at least in my eyes!) Aston ready to cruise the realm over the summer and beyond!
Cheers and thanks for all your support and advice, Mark
(Note - if anyone wants the details of the companies mentioned above, please pm me. Please also bear in mind that the prices I've quoted aren't guaranteed and I do let people know that I'm in a wheelchair so I may have got a special deal or two - hey, if you've got it, flaunt it!! ??)
As many of you requested updates - and as I'm still hopelessly besotted with my Aston - here's the latest news...
The first job on my list was to sort out the overly firm suspension. When I first got behind the wheel, out on the road as opposed to on the drive - a process that took about 2 months (having to fit hand controls and eventually get some driving lessons after 2yrs off the road, due to my having a slightly paranoid wife!) - my first impressions were that this car had had a sports or track upgrade as it seemed incredibly firm. Having then had an Aston tech and a friend with a DB9 take it out for a spin I learned that this is how they all ride... My wife, who's had 2 low back surgeries, only added to my intent to find a way to make it somewhat more compliant. The first route was with AM - £4-5,000. Pass! The second was the aftermarket option - £2-3,000. Pass again! (I said I was a cheapskate! Out of necessity, you may remember). Then it was a matter of searching the Web for a UK based company who could modify the stock system. I had learned that softer dampers rather than springs was what I should look for. Again the answers were typically out of my budget or "we can't do that" until I found company A (ask for Curtis), who could calibrate the dampers on a suspension dynamometer and then adjust the oil levels to achieve my aim of a more compliant ride.
OK, now to remove the dampers and ship them off. As a wheelchair user this wasn't going to be easy! Fortunately my stepson has built his own BMW 3-series drift car (in our drive!, much to the chagrin of his mother!) and he was willing to lend a hand (ie. do it for me!). It was very frustrating for him as the wheel well liner bolts were almost all either seized or would rotate endlessly and in the end he cut out sections of the liner to get to the relevant mountings. Yes, he's not blessed with a huge amount of patience...
2 weeks later and they've been refitted and "disaster"! The steering is so sensitive the car's almost undrivable over 70mph! Easily cured by a full realignment, thank god. Then I realised the error of my ways in having specified 25% softer damping. I should have gone for 10-15% maximum as the front valance constantly grounds over speed bumps and driveway exits. Ah well, at least company A installed plugs into the dampers so they can be modified again without removal. You live and learn, I guess...
I will drive up to Norfolk in the next few months and have them pump in a bit more oil which should get me back to a more satisfactory compromise. I only WISH they had told me about the alternative adjustable dampers they can supply for £800 BEFORE they had started work on mine... Serves me right for having given them such a precise description of what I wanted!
Some of you might have suggested smaller wheels with a higher profile tyre, an idea that I initially dismissed because of the likely cost. But then I am due to get new tyres at some point this year so a few months ago (Boxing Day, in fact) when I saw a full set of 18" rims from a Vantage which would fit my DB9 at a starting price of £220, I couldn't pass them up! And with it being Boxing Day, of course I got them... for the starting bid! All I need now is to save up for a set of 18" Michelin Pilot Super Sports from company B at significantly under £700 supply only and I'm all set.
Then I had to get the interior leather fixed (worn through panels on the driver's seat and fag/cigarette burns on the rear seat). Again I trawled the Web and found company C (Lee is their leather trim technician) who did this work and would also recover the black leather dashboard panels which were peeling back at the edges. All for under £400 - I was chuffed! Except that that, to keep the car on the road, I temporarily swapped the passenger seat over to the driver's side and had to cut the wire going to the seat-belt clip which has still not been reconnected and results in a constant airbag warning on the dash. (note to self - get that reconnected pronto. Your mot is due soon!)
As for the wheelchair issue, after days of eBay searching, I finally came across a manual chair that was both cheap, small and therefore would hopefully fit in the car. After hours of experimentation I finally found a way to fit the chassis into the boot (trunk) but the wheels had nowhere to go but on the rear seats. Not elegant but who uses them anyway?
Then I set about finding a way to improve the standard satnav, which in my opinion is an abomination. The approach I decided on was be to replace the factory screen with another 5" version with far better resolution from eBay which would also include a 2nd input for a reversing camera. All the components, including the camera and a wireless connection to the screen, come to a measly £50. Not bad if you're vaguely competent at diy! Ok, I know I'll need some help... So far I have removed the satnav unit (whilst disassembling the dash to get the 2 panels out for recovering) but I haven't got any further because I can't find out how to take it apart and I'm terrified that, if I attempt it without knowing the process, I could end up with all the gear mechanism in pieces on my desk and no idea how to put it back together again! I've searched but no joy. Any ideas gratefully received...
Next I was told by a fellow motorist that one of my rear lights was out so I duly drove to the main dealer a few days later and asked for a couple of rear light bulbs. Yes, I know! Sealed led units for £450 + vat per side!! Fortunately eBay once again saved the day with a very clean used pair for £200. I'm optimistic that I'll be able to open the old faulty unit and repair it - loads of how-to's on YouTube btw. In fact may be able to re-use the old unit straight away as, when I took it off, there was a whole mass of soggy gutter debris wrapped around the connector which might have been shorting the unit. I haven't resolved this yet because the connector wouldn't make a positive connection more than once in a dozen attempts. I asked the main dealer for pin information on the connector and, before I knew it, they had it back in and all bolted up. Fantastic! Except they had fitted the new unit from eBay and I wanted to check the old one out and maybe not even use the eBay ones at all! However it would have been enormously ungrateful for me to complain so I'll just add that to my to-do list!
Lastly, I had to get a 40k service done on the engine. The car has done 72k (as those of you who looked at the original advert for the car might have seen) but the engine was replaced under warranty at about 30k as shown in the service book. I don't believe in sealed for life drivetrain components so I wanted the differential fluid changed too. Once again I looked for an independent specialist and found Chris at company D, through a Pistonheads recommendation, who did a superb job at a very reasonable price - half that of a main dealer (with genuine parts and quality consumables sourced online that I supplied). I can't recommend him highly enough!
So now I still have to figure out how to do the satnav screen swap and get started on the paint issue. With the latter, I've decided to do patch repairs on the areas of bubbling myself (Nobody, and I mean NOBODY was even slightly interested in anything other than a full respray, even though I said I didn't expect any kind of guarantee!) and then I will get the car sprayed by company E with their rubber based, fuel resistant, peelable product for about £1500, including door shuts. I know that the finish I will get with my little airbrush setup will never be anywhere near as good as the factory finish (should I laugh at this point??) but hey, this is an 11 year old car that I bought for £24k. So I don't expect either Lionel Martin or David Brown to start turning in their graves!
All done and I'm a very happy bunny with my beautiful (at least in my eyes!) Aston ready to cruise the realm over the summer and beyond!
Cheers and thanks for all your support and advice, Mark
(Note - if anyone wants the details of the companies mentioned above, please pm me. Please also bear in mind that the prices I've quoted aren't guaranteed and I do let people know that I'm in a wheelchair so I may have got a special deal or two - hey, if you've got it, flaunt it!! ??)
Edited by Markchip on Monday 2nd May 01:49
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