V8 Vantage Front Grille fell out!
Discussion
When I hit the brakes yesterday I heard a metallic clinking and saw something shoot forwards on the road. I now realise it was the top bright horizontal slat of my 8 bar grille; Doh! I've been back today and scoured the area but the slat has gone. It will have been run over and ruined anyway. Does anyone know where I can buy just the one slat? I really don't want to buy the whole thing or get a mesh one.
Thank you for your attention.
Thank you for your attention.
I feel your pain! Hit a pheasant a few weeks ago. Watched it and my front grill sail over the top of the car. By the time I got back to the remains it had been hit by three cars and a lorry!
I needed a full grill & found a good quality used one on ebay. From experience I don't think you can buy individual parts from Aston.
I salvaged two slats, unfortunately not the top one. I could cut one of them down to fit the top if you want. Wont be perfect but they have the same fittings. No charge. Need to share the love in difficult times.
I needed a full grill & found a good quality used one on ebay. From experience I don't think you can buy individual parts from Aston.
I salvaged two slats, unfortunately not the top one. I could cut one of them down to fit the top if you want. Wont be perfect but they have the same fittings. No charge. Need to share the love in difficult times.
Thanks Riddochg; got your mail.
I sat opposite the chap who designed the front grille locators and in fairness he was only given a very short time to sort it.
That was for DB9, so I assume the same design, material type and masterbatch was used for the plastic uprights in both cases; I was on interiors, so I don't know much about exterior grilles.
I sat opposite the chap who designed the front grille locators and in fairness he was only given a very short time to sort it.
That was for DB9, so I assume the same design, material type and masterbatch was used for the plastic uprights in both cases; I was on interiors, so I don't know much about exterior grilles.
What work did you do on the interiors? I came from TVR which was exotic but largely glue based. The quality of the Aston interior was a revelation.Riddochg said:
Ref the grill coming apart it's designed to do that. If you hit a pedestrian at speed without it breaking up it would be nasty........
This. And it's the clever design that allows Aston to be one of the few (if not the only) OEM whose metal-looking grilles are actually metal.Thank you. I was responsible for Seats front and rear, Headlining and Pillar trims, Carpet, Boot trim and Centre Floor Console.
The really impressive bit, the IP, was done by Visteon (Ford) and was a really good execution.
I bet TVR was fun. I would have loved to have worked with John Ravenscroft.
The really impressive bit, the IP, was done by Visteon (Ford) and was a really good execution.
I bet TVR was fun. I would have loved to have worked with John Ravenscroft.
Riddochg said:
... I came from TVR which was exotic but largely glue based...
When you say you 'came from TVR'. Do you mean you worked at Blackpool or bought your Aston after owning a TVR? p.s. the usual leak was through the cover for the brake fluid reservoir where someone didn't use mastic when they put it back.
DobHunter said:
Thank you. I was responsible for Seats front and rear, Headlining and Pillar trims, Carpet, Boot trim and Centre Floor Console.
Interesting. Would you like to share why the original seat design was changed so soon after the cars were released? I always wondered about that.Riddochg said:
Need to share the love in difficult times.
That's a good question and one I would like to know the answer to myself. I had left before the seat swap, so I never found out why.
The original seats were Audi S6 frames from Recaro on Hammerstein mechanisms. The styling was done by Henrik Fisker at Towcester (absolute genius and lovely guy, as is Ian Callum). We gave him an untrimmed seat with extra foam glued on all over. He then trimmed off the excess to style up to the extant hard points, using what was effectively an extra long electric carving knife. The aim was to give the seat bigger shoulders and differentiate it from the original, whilst still using the same Airbags and Airbag covers. I was quite proud of the finished article and then, as you say, it suddenly changed. Could have been supply issues or one of many other things. I have the later seats in mine and I like them. Sorry I can't help more than that.
When you move on from one car company to another, they are very protective of their IP.
The original seats were Audi S6 frames from Recaro on Hammerstein mechanisms. The styling was done by Henrik Fisker at Towcester (absolute genius and lovely guy, as is Ian Callum). We gave him an untrimmed seat with extra foam glued on all over. He then trimmed off the excess to style up to the extant hard points, using what was effectively an extra long electric carving knife. The aim was to give the seat bigger shoulders and differentiate it from the original, whilst still using the same Airbags and Airbag covers. I was quite proud of the finished article and then, as you say, it suddenly changed. Could have been supply issues or one of many other things. I have the later seats in mine and I like them. Sorry I can't help more than that.
When you move on from one car company to another, they are very protective of their IP.
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