Discussion
V8V Pete said:
Inspection by a specialist is surely the only sane approach to this.
Yes this. A few hundred spent here might save you thousends. At the very least, a full review will give you a list of jobs which need doing. They can and do rust everywhere. Sills are a special favourite. The aluminium if riveted to the steel, so they can corrode here too. At the very least take off the sill covers and have a poke around. They are fabulous cars but dont enter into buying one lightly. Have a look here to see what could be waiting for you...
http://www.aston-v8.co.uk/
OK if you want my opinion, yes they show surface rust only BUT that is not the worst places they rust. Am I right in seeing the front crossmember, ?, rear quarter panel and then a sill jacking point. What about the boot floor, sills themselves , passenger footwells etc
how's the oil pressure on the engine? Does it weep from the block? Are the weep holes blocked? Who serviced it, when, and using what tools and oil? How are the rear brakes? There are so many ways they can trap you and end up costing you serious money, I urge you to be cautious.
how's the oil pressure on the engine? Does it weep from the block? Are the weep holes blocked? Who serviced it, when, and using what tools and oil? How are the rear brakes? There are so many ways they can trap you and end up costing you serious money, I urge you to be cautious.
Based on the pictures shown, it looks like 'surface' rust. Give it a gentle prod/scrap with a screwdriver or something similar and get a feeling to see if the surface feels solid or not.
Obviously, always best to get an experts opinion, but overall I would say the car looks reasonable based on age and the pictures shown.
There doesn't seem to be any patchwork repairs/welds etc on the pictures shown.
Obviously, always best to get an experts opinion, but overall I would say the car looks reasonable based on age and the pictures shown.
There doesn't seem to be any patchwork repairs/welds etc on the pictures shown.
It's the sills that rust. Start with the automatic assumption they will need redoing (and it's expensive) unless theyve already been done in the last 10 years
Has the car had a bare metal respray done in say the last ten years (with photographic evidence)? If not I'd carefully check the front wings (look for evidence of filler). Be wary of any car that's been repainted (but not bare-metalled), can hide a multitude of sins
Has the car had a bare metal respray done in say the last ten years (with photographic evidence)? If not I'd carefully check the front wings (look for evidence of filler). Be wary of any car that's been repainted (but not bare-metalled), can hide a multitude of sins
montecristo said:
Thank you all. Since the car is not unequivocally beyond hope, I'm going to get an expert in and see what they say.
Just steel yourself for the potential for lots of other things needing doing (the photos you posted are barely the tip of the iceberg 
).If big bills concern you, step away from any prestige classic car, especially Astons.
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