VH Vantage OEM Stone Guards (front "mud flaps")
Discussion
The only concern I have with the original "coke bottle" V8 Vantage sills fitted to the car is the proneness to additional stone chips down the side.
You can see from the two original sills, now cleaned and safely stored away, that the underside of the pronounced side skirts are rash with chips from the stones being flung up front the front tyres.
The earlier sill designs, being rounded, will not only show these chips more, but also allow stones to travel further down the flanks. I've read about this issue.
Additional plastic protection was fitted front and read on the "new" skirts after painting. Perhaps the entire length of the sill should have been PPF'd, but I'm not a fan of PPF. I accept that every 10 years (or so), I'll probably have to get the car partially resprayed. And having seen the quality of Divine Auto Restorations now, I think I'm vindicated. In my own mind 😏
An option I subsequently considered was fitting OEM "Stone Chip Guards". I asked on the Facebook > Aston Martin UK forum, and received some excellent feedback, as well as examples of them fitted. They aren't as obvious as I feared.
Looking around, the Aston Store gave this purchase option:
https://www.astonstore.co.uk/product-category/comp...
Oof! That's at £325, it was a bit punchy. So I asked HWM, AM Bristol and AM Works. Works were first to respond that they had some in stock at around £120 inc VAT and delivery, which I think is good value. They arrived a day later by recorded delivery. MDs aren't all evil, as too often suggested!
The stone guards themselves appear to be in a high quality non-rigid material and fit up perfectly. I've yet to screw them into place.
My only note is that the instructions say:
"Vehicles up to 07 MY do not have pre-drilled holes provided in the front road wheel arch liner to accommodate two scrivnuts."
Mine's a 2018 car, and those holes aren't there either. Not exactly a big problem, but just a note.
I think they aren't that obvious when fitted up to the car. I'd much prefer this look than an unnecessary stone rash!
You can see from the two original sills, now cleaned and safely stored away, that the underside of the pronounced side skirts are rash with chips from the stones being flung up front the front tyres.
The earlier sill designs, being rounded, will not only show these chips more, but also allow stones to travel further down the flanks. I've read about this issue.
Additional plastic protection was fitted front and read on the "new" skirts after painting. Perhaps the entire length of the sill should have been PPF'd, but I'm not a fan of PPF. I accept that every 10 years (or so), I'll probably have to get the car partially resprayed. And having seen the quality of Divine Auto Restorations now, I think I'm vindicated. In my own mind 😏
An option I subsequently considered was fitting OEM "Stone Chip Guards". I asked on the Facebook > Aston Martin UK forum, and received some excellent feedback, as well as examples of them fitted. They aren't as obvious as I feared.
Looking around, the Aston Store gave this purchase option:
https://www.astonstore.co.uk/product-category/comp...
Oof! That's at £325, it was a bit punchy. So I asked HWM, AM Bristol and AM Works. Works were first to respond that they had some in stock at around £120 inc VAT and delivery, which I think is good value. They arrived a day later by recorded delivery. MDs aren't all evil, as too often suggested!
The stone guards themselves appear to be in a high quality non-rigid material and fit up perfectly. I've yet to screw them into place.
My only note is that the instructions say:
"Vehicles up to 07 MY do not have pre-drilled holes provided in the front road wheel arch liner to accommodate two scrivnuts."
Mine's a 2018 car, and those holes aren't there either. Not exactly a big problem, but just a note.
I think they aren't that obvious when fitted up to the car. I'd much prefer this look than an unnecessary stone rash!
Just building on Nick's thread. I have a 2015 V8V and I've had the "stoneguards" fitted to my standard 2015 non-'S' sills. Point to note is the stoneguard form was designed to fit the earlier, "wrap under" sills (without the extensions) that Nick has now fitted and the profile didn't match my sills. This was fixed by my MD refitting the front of the sills so the sills fixings under the car were fitted under the lower fixings of the liners, whereas normally the liners overlap the sills.
This fixed the profile match issue, but meant that the lower edge of the stoneguard now didn't run level, but lower towards the centre of the car. Normaly not an issue, but in my case that caught on the small ramp into my garage. This was fixed by removing the stoneguards and trimming the bottom edges with a Stanley knife so they were level when fitted. I appreciate this word salad may not be clear but, if anyone is interested, I can illustrate with photos and sketches, if required.
A final note - my wheelarch liners didn't have the hole for the plastic scrivnut either.
This fixed the profile match issue, but meant that the lower edge of the stoneguard now didn't run level, but lower towards the centre of the car. Normaly not an issue, but in my case that caught on the small ramp into my garage. This was fixed by removing the stoneguards and trimming the bottom edges with a Stanley knife so they were level when fitted. I appreciate this word salad may not be clear but, if anyone is interested, I can illustrate with photos and sketches, if required.
A final note - my wheelarch liners didn't have the hole for the plastic scrivnut either.
LTP said:
Just building on Nick's thread. I have a 2015 V8V and I've had the "stoneguards" fitted to my standard 2015 non-'S' sills. Point to note is the stoneguard form was designed to fit the earlier, "wrap under" sills (without the extensions) that Nick has now fitted and the profile didn't match my sills. This was fixed by my MD refitting the front of the sills so the sills fixings under the car were fitted under the lower fixings of the liners, whereas normally the liners overlap the sills.
This fixed the profile match issue, but meant that the lower edge of the stoneguard now didn't run level, but lower towards the centre of the car. Normaly not an issue, but in my case that caught on the small ramp into my garage. This was fixed by removing the stoneguards and trimming the bottom edges with a Stanley knife so they were level when fitted. I appreciate this word salad may not be clear but, if anyone is interested, I can illustrate with photos and sketches, if required.
A final note - my wheelarch liners didn't have the hole for the plastic scrivnut either.
Thanks for the comment. I heard (on FB, I think?) that they fit later V8 and V12 side skirts, but I was doubtful seeing how moulded they are to profile. Mind, the V12S skirts underside tool the brunt of the stones, and you can't see that.This fixed the profile match issue, but meant that the lower edge of the stoneguard now didn't run level, but lower towards the centre of the car. Normaly not an issue, but in my case that caught on the small ramp into my garage. This was fixed by removing the stoneguards and trimming the bottom edges with a Stanley knife so they were level when fitted. I appreciate this word salad may not be clear but, if anyone is interested, I can illustrate with photos and sketches, if required.
A final note - my wheelarch liners didn't have the hole for the plastic scrivnut either.
XMark said:
They work well keeping stones and dirt from peppering the sides, my only gripe is they re a bit low/chunky and I ve caught them them loads of times, I have to pop them back into place occasionally.
As I said, they're easily trimmed with a sharp Stanley. You can then buff the cut edge with some 200 grit and, as it's under the car, you can't see itXMark said:
They work well keeping stones and dirt from peppering the sides, my only gripe is they re a bit low/chunky and I ve caught them them loads of times, I have to pop them back into place occasionally.
Really? Now fitted, they look like the could be lower still. WRC style Edited by XMark on Thursday 7th May 19:34
)
<splutter> Having fitted them yesterday, just a few of notes:
- It advises you drill 10mm holes to fit the supplied scrivets. In reality, 8mm is a much more secure fit.
- You need a couple of Torx screwdrivers. One of the screws supplied, which replaces a shorter Philips head screw that secures the arch liner is a Torx. Plus the ones holding the side skirts are Torx heads.
- You don't need a ramp to do the work. Simply rotating the front wheels in either direction provides enough access. But you will need a socket wrench with Torx adapter to remove and secure the one side skirt screw that needs to be utilised.
Handyman2009 said:
The only thing you have to be carful of the speed bump as these get very close to the ground
I tried it on Sunday evening with them fitted over the local "yumps". If you go too fast on these, you can ground out the front sacrificial/rubber underbody air dams that are in front of the front wheels.But the stone guards didn't make contact once.
Handyman - is yours lowered at all?
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