2006 V8 Vantage Tailgate Construction

[VR6VR6]

All

Might be a daft question but what is the tailgate made from on a 4.3 V8V?

Cheers

[RB99]

I think its some sort of composite/fibreglass material. Maybe one that shrinks slightly post production!

[LTP]

VR6VR6 said:

All

Might be a daft question but what is the tailgate made from on a 4.3 V8V?

Cheers

Sheet Moulding Compound or SMC

https://www.compositesworld.com/articles/innovatio...

[snoop32]

Glad this was asked. I had the same question as I put a paint meter on the trunk lid the other day and there were no readings.

Is the hood made of the same material?

[LTP]

snoop32 said:

Glad this was asked. I had the same question as I put a paint meter on the trunk lid the other day and there were no readings.

Is the hood made of the same material?

If by hood, you mean bonnet (the engine compartment lid) then no, I believe that’s aluminium (aluminum?). The front wings on a Vantage are also SMC whereas the main rear quarter panel and cantrail is steel.

[RB99]

Does anyone else think the tailgate looks slightly too small on vantages?

[LTP]

RB99 said:

Does anyone else think the tailgate looks slightly too small on vantages?

No.

[RB99]

LTP said:

No.

Have you never noticed slightly larger shutlines between the tail lights, bumper and tailgate? When i first started looking at these I actually though the boot was ajar. I cant unsee it now.

[LTP]

RB99 said:

Have you never noticed slightly larger shutlines between the tail lights, bumper and tailgate? When i first started looking at these I actually though the boot was ajar. I cant unsee it now.

It’s called overslam clearance. If you had the same nominal gap as the other shutlines there is a risk of the tailgate hitting the top edge of the bumper when you slam it closed. Aston’s problem with low-volume tooling and manual build is you can’t easily hold the tolerances that Audi achieve. There were several changes made to try to control the top edge of the bumper to avoid paint damage from being hit by the lower edge of the tailgate. The minimum gap should be 6 mm, and could be as much as 8 mm.

It is always possible that your tailgate is incorrectly set. I assume that you can achieve the first and secondary latch positions when you close your tailgate?

Edited by LTP on Wednesday 7th April 21:55

[Jon39]

RB99 said:

Have you never noticed slightly larger shutlines between the tail lights, bumper and tailgate? When i first started looking at these I actually though the boot was ajar. I cant unsee it now.

Where are the big gaps ?

[RB99]

LTP said:

It’s called overslam clearance. If you had the same nominal gap as the other shutlines there is a risk of the tailgate hitting the top edge of the bumper when you slam it closed. Aston’s problem with low-volume tooling and manual build is you can’t easily hold the tolerances that Audi achieve. There were several changes made to try to control the top edge of the bumper to avoid paint damage from being hit by the lower edge of the tailgate. The minimum gap should be 6 mm, and could be as much as 8 mm.

It is always possible that your tailgate is incorrectly set. I assume that you can achieve the first and secondary latch positions when you close your tailgate?

Edited by LTP on Wednesday 7th April 21:55

Ah ok, that makes sense. It is in the region that may impact the lights and rear bumper, so perhaps an engineered extra tolerance reduces the liklihood of this occurring. I wouldnt say mine was atypical, it was something that has caught my eye on several cars. I once recall reading the old Elan had some issues where moulded body parts had reduced in size after manufacture. It did occur to me that a similar thing may have happened. I'm happier if its supposed to be there! Thanks for the info.

[RB99]

[quote=Jon39]

Where are the big gaps?

Can't you see them? They look kind of obvious to me.

[LTP]

RB99 said:

I once recall reading the old Elan had some issues where moulded body parts had reduced in size after manufacture. It did occur to me that a similar thing may have happened.

I may have made reference to low volume tooling but the Elan was on an even lower level, being basically hand laid-up GRP in a one-sided mould, the sort of thing a hobbyist would do in a shed. Off the top of my head I don’t know the shrinkage rate of SMC but it’s lower than most injection moulding plastics (if it has any at all), but this would be designed into the tooling to produce parts within original spec.

[RB99]

LTP said:

I may have made reference to low volume tooling but the Elan was on an even lower level, being basically hand laid-up GRP in a one-sided mould, the sort of thing a hobbyist would do in a shed. Off the top of my head I don’t know the shrinkage rate of SMC but it’s lower than most injection moulding plastics (if it has any at all), but this would be designed into the tooling to produce parts within original spec.

Interesting, were you involved in the design or production at aston martin?

[LTP]

RB99 said:

Interesting, were you involved in the design or production at aston martin?

I've been involved in automotive sprinkled with a little bit of aerospace for most of what I laughingly call my career. As a result I've picked up enough knowledge to know that I'm not an expert but may be dangerous.