2007 V8 vantage composite wings

[Leroy007]

Hi all, sadly my vantage has been hit with the known issues of contamination. Bubbling. Third attempt repairs wing baked three times to draw out the moisture. Hopefully this time all is ok. Replacement wing is no guarantee to rectify Aston approved body shop won’t comment. Aston should have looked at lotuses issues. Who would have thought it. I must be honest I was disappointed to learn of the plastic wings. I love the car but it did or has taken that silver lining off some what. Doesn’t feel as unique/special.

[blueg33]

Some of the most desirable cars on the planet have composite body panels

Dont let something like this spoil the "premium" element of the car

[TA14]

Leroy007 said:

Hi all, sadly my vantage has been hit with the known issues of contamination. Bubbling. Third attempt repairs wing baked three times to draw out the moisture. Hopefully this time all is ok.

There's your answer. If water has got into the fibres then the only solution is replacement. No amount of baking will dry out the wing. Use a repair shop that understands fibreglass - perhaps a TVR or LOTUS specialist.

[TA14]

This may be of interest: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[blueg33]

I just don't get the dislike for composite body panels on PH

Its irrational

[kambites]

Plastic is a far better material for non-structural body panels than steel. The problem is with dodgy production standards, but even then then I'd rather have paint bubbling due to moisture than rust.

[Neil1300r]

Leroy007 said:

Hi all, sadly my vantage has been hit with the known issues of contamination. Bubbling. Third attempt repairs wing baked three times to draw out the moisture. Hopefully this time all is ok. Replacement wing is no guarantee to rectify Aston approved body shop won’t comment. Aston should have looked at lotuses issues. Who would have thought it. I must be honest I was disappointed to learn of the plastic wings. I love the car but it did or has taken that silver lining off some what. Doesn’t feel as unique/special.

Known issue? Not generally on the front wings. Paint contamination on wing mirror supports and doors is a well known issue. Wings are a composite. It's not a secret. What did you think they were made of, the rarest unobtainium? My experience of an approved body shop was they were shockingly st, so take anything they say with a pinch of salt

[bogie]

There are only a couple of steel panels on the entire car ....as per many modern cars. You might be hard pressed to search out something different these day.

The paint issue is well known by Lotus bodyshops, I had it on an Elise over 15 years ago.

Id try a different bodyshop if you are selecting and paying yourself.

[S1-NOS]

+1

I think you'll find your problem is the bodyshop procedures as opposed to the actual wing material.

[LTP]

Just chipping in to point out that Aston use SMC composite components, not fibreglass. Most people associate fibreglass with a one-sided female mould and the wet lay-up of matting, impregnated by a 2-part resin often applied by roller or brush, as in kit cars. Aston use SMC (sheet moulding compound) which is heated and pressed in a two-sided tool (punch and die) giving a smooth finish on both the A-surface and B-surface, unlike the visible mat on the B-surface of a traditional hand-laid fibreglass panel. Why SMC? It's quite light, quite stiff, it's relatively cheap to tool, it's economical for small production runs, you can make shapes that would be impossible to press in metal and it's transparent to radio waves, which helps with antennae. The tailgate on my P3 Volvo V70 was SMC, and there are many instances of SMC use on modern cars.

The Vantage body is a combination of aluminium, steel and composites, with magnesium for the door inner castings (which is why the doors often corrode - bimetallic corrosion due to rubbish process control at the door assembler, which was not AML); the new DB11 and Vantage are mainly aluminium and composite. I was really surprised (and a little disappointed) that the main rear quarter on my VH Vantage is steel and not aluminium.

Edited by LTP on Friday 10th July 16:26

[milu]

I too was surprised that the rear section was steel.
As for composite wings,it's a bonus I reckon. One less panel to worry about

[Leroy007]

Well thanks for all the input. Appreciate it. Most of which I knew,but obviously there’s always others experiences to take onboard. Nothing wrong with a bit of disappointment and we move on. And to the person who had to put a pointless remark. No I didnt think it was from the rarest of materials. It looks like contamination rather than paint shop. It’s come up in the exact same place on the wing. And they had cut out that section as well. Possibly a crack on the inner surface. As we all know moisture,the issue is probably no where near where it’s showing itself. Thanks again.