Last week I went a bit over-board and ordered a bunch of goodies for my car:

1. Complete AM N400 kit (includes CF Rear Diffuser, CF Front Splitter, CF Side Strakes and N400 side sills)

2. AM Sport Exhaust

I have decided to keep the exhaust, that much I know. It's scheduled to get installed in about a week, and I will definitely follow up with my impressions

As for the rest of the items, if anyone is interested in some or all of them, send me a PM.

(better prices to those local folks who can save me the hassle of shipping stuff out)

 

Really, this is not just a shameless bump...I also have a few legit questions

I was going though the boxes containing all the AM goodies but there are no instructions whatsoever. I guess it's not a big deal given that everything looks pretty self-explanatory. However, I do have a few questions for folks that have installed some of these accessories in the past.

1. With respect to the N400 side sills, is it possible to remove the original factory sills without damaging them in case some day I want to revert to the original look or the N400 sills get damaged, etc.?

1.a. What do you think about having the sills painted first and then getting them installed at a later date? So long as the shop doing the painting gets the correct factory paint based on the AM color code, do you think there is still a chance that the paint job might not match perfectly? Ideally, I would have the sills painted first; wait 30 days for the paint to fully cure and then get them wrapped in a clear bra (like the rest of my car); and lastly get them installed.

2. Like I said previously, I didn't see any instructions with the N400/N420 styling kit. The kit did, however, come with 8 torx screws; 8 brackets and 12 large foam washers (see attached pic). I know the 8 screws and brackets go with the diffuser. But what about the 12 large foam washers? Could this correspond to the front splitter....but that doesn't seem to align with the 5 screws that hold the splitter in place.

The only place I remember foam washers being used are in connection with the rear tail light assemblies. But even then, I think only 6 foam washers would be used (3 on each lamp). But why would I need to remove the tail lamps? Do the lamps have to come out when the rear bumper is removed to install the rear diffuser?

Lastly, original OEM Aston Martin carbon fiber side strakes....$1,000. Anyone interested? It's a steal

 

My original sills were somewhat damaged after removed. Not sure if they were already damaged prior to the removal.

N400 Sills were painted first, dried then installed. There is always a chance the color might not match just with the color code. That's why the shop will require your car to do the color matching, which should take about an hour. As for the clear bra, they are wrapped after the installation of the sills. The sills are too soft by itself to be wrapped.

Can't really comment on the details but my installer used every piece of screws, brackets and foram washers for the diffuser installation. Front splitter can re-use the original screws, which takes less than 10min.

Yes, the rear lights and bumper has to come off for the diffuser installation. A couple of drilling on the diffuser is required for the installtion.

 

Thanks Cret. When you say that your original sills were damaged after removal, do you mean that the screw slots/rivets on the sills were mangled such that they could not be used again?

 

The sills can definitely be removed without damage and you can paint the new ones prior to installation. Even when you have a perfect paint match, their curvature and material sometimes make them look a little different in color than the rest of the car anyway.

You can use 6 foam washers per light cluster—3 on the inside and the other 3 on the outside. 12 total sounds right to me.

 

Maybe still usable, but doubt I will ever put them back on. Not sure whether the damage occurred before or during the removal.

 

Did you decide to keep the diffuser and have it installed?

 

Hi Bruma,

I have not had the diffuser installed yet. I'm a bit on the fence as to whether I'll be keeping it. I plan on having the AM Sports exhaust installed within the week and depending on the total cost, I may or may not opt to keep the diffuser.

 

Just posted everything up in the market place individually.

N400 Side Sills: https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...ide-sills.html

Side Strakes: https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...e-strakes.html

Rear Diffuser: https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...-diffuser.html

Front Splitter: https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...-splitter.html