Spacers finally came today, since the 23mm were going on the rear for sure I decided to start there. Here's the spacer itself:



Here are a couple pics of the car, 2005 DB9 with H&R springs, as it currently sits:







Here's the spacer on the hub without the locking nuts tightened down:



I have the 7 spoke wheels and this is the inside of them, at first I was quite excited that no modification at all was going to be required as the recessed hole next to the holes was deeper than the the amount the lug bolts extend through the spacer, but as you can see here the holes are angled as such that the lug bolts hit the edge of it as it tapers inwards.





This obviously provides 2 options. The first being trim the lug bolt down so that the wheel can be all the way up to the spacer without hitting the bolts, and the second being trim the outside edge of the bolts to the same angle as the inside of the wheel. I took quite a bit of time here experimenting which may work the best. I was running out of light, so I skimped on pictures here but I did cutting down on one side, angling on the other side. On the driver's side I trimmed the bolts down, about 7mm needed to be trimmed for it to fit without any rubbing. The passenger side I ground down the outer edge of the bolts slightly. I snapped a few more pics from the same spots as earlier for a relative difference, and this was before driving it so the suspension hasn't settled yet either.







As you can see it pulled the wheel out quite a noticable amount. I have a feeling that'll be way too much on the fronts and I'll end up going with the 11s even though it'll be such a small change. The 11s require a coupletely different install procedure including replacing the lug bolts with longer versions (supplied). I'm hoping to get an early start tomorrow and get it done in the morning before I have to head out for the day. Please feel free to ask questions if something isn't clear, though I'm not a mechanic by any means so I may or may not know the answer.

 

Thanks for the pics and description. Re: the fronts, do you have instructions for pulling the stock studs from the hub? It's a non trivial exercise Also depending on the 'collar' on your new studs (the flange under the head of the bolt), you may have to slightly widen the hole in the hub in order that the new studs can fit flush. The most critical element of that install is that the collar on the new stud fit completely (and tightly)within the hole in the hub. If the head of the stud is not flush with the back of the hub, you run a major risk of the stud breaking under strain (ie driving) which obviously is a situation you want to avoid. The converse is also true, if the collar is too small (or if you grind the hole too much), then the stud will be loose and unsafe. My apologies for being pedantic if you know all this already.

 

Thanks for the tips, I've got the service manual here and will be using that, but if it looks too much I'll just pop over to my friends shop for a lifeline haha

 

Cool. Have a _big_ hammer ready to help get the studs out

 

So after a quick drive this morning and making sure everything stayed snug...this is how it looks. I absolutely love it, looks exactly how I'd hoped.

 

I'm confused. Do you have a DB9 but have Vantage 7-spoke wheels?

 

Yes, the DB9 wheels are ugly.

 

I just stuck a set of Vantage S rims on my 2007 V8. Noticed the tires at the rear are a little more close to being flush. Maybe 11MM front and 11MM rear might do it! That being the case, are there spacers out there that I can buy where I can just replace the lug nuts to get that extra CM back that I need? Yes, I have searched. Someone in Germany was doing something similar but I cannot get the link to work. Have both the RSR and Adaptec sets...not yet used...not sure I want to make that "commitment". Thoughts?