My Aston Martin DB7 Vantage is worthless but I love it...

My Aston Martin DB7 Vantage is worthless but I love it...

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Discussion

Stalje

Original Poster:

39 posts

82 months

Tuesday 15th June 2021
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Hello folks,
I have some story to tell about DB7 and me... A lot of years ago, my grandma sent me from France some specs of pics about supercars because she knew how I was inexplicably loving cars, already. among the pictures, there was a yellow Aston Martin Db7 i6 volante :

And I felt in love...

I was living in Tunisia these days, until 2007, when I went to France to study.
I began buying cars for cheap. The first one was 30€... Years passed and I bought more and more cars in need of TLC.

There came the time to watch for Aston Martin for sale. I found an i6, blue, auto, right hand drive, for quite cheap. I bought it, but it broke down during the journey back. Broken rear differential. I was far from home and decided to cancel the buy and have a refund.

3 years later, I found another Db7, but close to my location. It was a Vantage. It wasn't a runner since the engine was supposedly out of order. I went to see it. Discovered a partly dismantled car. Decided to buy it anyways. 3 years of work, time to time after...

I enjoy this car more than any other. I know that a lot of cars I got were "better", but hey... This is an AM, with a v12, and a manual gearbox.


I did a video of the complete process to have this car drivable and reliable. If you are tempted, here it is :



Edited by Stalje on Tuesday 15th June 08:21

V8LM

5,166 posts

208 months

Tuesday 15th June 2021
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clapclapclap

Stuart70

3,910 posts

182 months

Tuesday 15th June 2021
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Well done. Complete admiration for what you have achieved.

4Q

3,347 posts

143 months

Tuesday 15th June 2021
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Great video. Thanks for sharing.

Edited by 4Q on Tuesday 15th June 08:01

phumy

5,671 posts

236 months

Tuesday 15th June 2021
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Fantastic work,over the part where your bashing around in the garage with bare feet, you're a brave man.

I'm sure your grandma would have been so proud of you too, is she still around to see what you have done?

williamp

19,213 posts

272 months

Tuesday 15th June 2021
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Very well done. LOVE IT!

What was it like to work on??

Stalje

Original Poster:

39 posts

82 months

Tuesday 15th June 2021
quotequote all
Thank you, all !
phumy, I'm quite always barefoot when out of winter, risky but hey, we only live once, and I feel in holiday this way biggrin
Sadly my grandma passed away the summer before I bought the Aston. But she let me a gift bank account which helped me buying the Aston smile

williamp it's quite busy under the bonnet, notably on the front where you find the radiator, pipes & co... So, quite difficult to work in this area without removing the cooling system which is quite a pain. The drivetrain is quite simple to work on. I you are familiar with old jags (xjs, xj40, x300...) you won't be lost ! A huge amount of parts can be found in the Ford catalog, but it needs a lot of search.

Graze01

1,034 posts

91 months

Tuesday 15th June 2021
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Stalje

just a brilliant video. Thanks for sharing, and enjoy your well deserved car

Graeme

Stick Legs

4,825 posts

164 months

Tuesday 15th June 2021
quotequote all
Very well done, huge respect for even attempting this project given the cost of some of the parts.

It's a shame there aren't subtitles for the talk at the end, my French is okay but not up to keeping up with that, can you give an quick run-down please.

Très bien fait, un immense respect pour avoir même tenté ce projet étant donné le coût de certaines des pièces.

C'est dommage qu'il n'y ait pas de sous-titres pour le discours à la fin, mon français n'est pas à la hauteur, pouvez-vous me donner un bref aperçu s'il vous plaît.

Stalje

Original Poster:

39 posts

82 months

Tuesday 15th June 2021
quotequote all
Stick Legs said:
Very well done, huge respect for even attempting this project given the cost of some of the parts.

It's a shame there aren't subtitles for the talk at the end, my French is okay but not up to keeping up with that, can you give an quick run-down please.

Très bien fait, un immense respect pour avoir même tenté ce projet étant donné le coût de certaines des pièces.

C'est dommage qu'il n'y ait pas de sous-titres pour le discours à la fin, mon français n'est pas à la hauteur, pouvez-vous me donner un bref aperçu s'il vous plaît.
for sure, I'll take some time to do the subs smile I'll let you know

@Graze01 thank you!

Stalje

Original Poster:

39 posts

82 months

Tuesday 15th June 2021
quotequote all
Stick Legs said:
Very well done, huge respect for even attempting this project given the cost of some of the parts.

It's a shame there aren't subtitles for the talk at the end, my French is okay but not up to keeping up with that, can you give an quick run-down please.

Très bien fait, un immense respect pour avoir même tenté ce projet étant donné le coût de certaines des pièces.

C'est dommage qu'il n'y ait pas de sous-titres pour le discours à la fin, mon français n'est pas à la hauteur, pouvez-vous me donner un bref aperçu s'il vous plaît.
subs are done ; )

Agent57

1,631 posts

153 months

Tuesday 15th June 2021
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Great stuff. It certainly is not worthless.

Just needs a grill and all will be fine...smile

Stalje

Original Poster:

39 posts

82 months

Tuesday 15th June 2021
quotequote all
Agent57 said:
Great stuff. It certainly is not worthless.

Just needs a grill and all will be fine...smile
I have an original one, new and a "GT" version as well but the brackets are broken inside my bumper, I'll have to repair that before I can mount them.

bogie

16,342 posts

271 months

Tuesday 15th June 2021
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Congrats, what a great restoration story smile

Stalje

Original Poster:

39 posts

82 months

Wednesday 16th June 2021
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bogie said:
Congrats, what a great restoration story smile
Thank you!

dbs2000

2,681 posts

191 months

Wednesday 16th June 2021
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I shall watch this later smile

ganz67

22 posts

53 months

Wednesday 16th June 2021
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To hell with Q. You are da man.

paulrog1

983 posts

140 months

Wednesday 16th June 2021
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What a fantastic story, great video.

You have managed to rescue a DB7 Vantage that was destined to be broken or scrapped and now you've managed to give it a new lease of life, I love your can do attitude, that attitude is missing now in alot of young people and if you work hard you can achieve anything, I try to live by that.

I must say you've got some balls getting the V12 out of the car just using home garage tools and equipment. I've taken out engines many years ago and a few V6's but that V12 is another beast.

I hope you really enjoy driving the car with a huge sense of achievement and now you can reap the rewards of your hard work.

Well done.




Greathey

122 posts

55 months

Wednesday 16th June 2021
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To my eye, a DB7 is better looking than a DB9. Keep it, enjoy it, and hopefully in a few years it will appreciate in value. I think it will because compared to DB9 and Vantage, the DB7 is much much rarer

Sydney V8V

85 posts

55 months

Thursday 17th June 2021
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Great video and great work especially in open shed, My favorite Aston colour and interior too. Another one saved, all the best and enjoy .