I came from Porsches to Aston, and I have had some difficulty in mentally gauging the distance to the very front of the Vantage because its WAY more out there than in a P-car - the end result was I bumped a sidewalk curb with the front end. About 2 mph, if that. However, this was enough to scrape the lower spoiler and push the valance back into about 1/2", making it look pretty bad. But since I know that is ABS material, and nothing was cracked or split, I figured I could fix it myself and it wasn't all that difficult.

First step was to remove the little ABS lip spoiler at the very bottom. Its held on by (7) # 2 Phillips screws. Get that off and them simply sand it down with various grits of sandpaper to smooth out the chatter marks, I finished it with 600 grit wet-sand, painted it and set is aside.

Now onto the "dent". The lower valance on the Vantage is supported by an aluminum pan, same one you have to take off to change the oil on the car. Its held on with (8) T-20 Torx and (3) T-25 Torx. Remove that and you will see its bent up from the curb strike. Lay flat on concrete and hammer it back to straight. Since its aluminum it will form back very easily.

The painted ABS lower valance has a memory, so it will go back to its original shape if persuaded by a heat gun set on low and warmed up nicely. If you do't have a heat gun, you can use a hair dryer set on high. Work it back and forth and massage the area and in less than 5 minutes it will be back to its factory shape.

Re-install the aluminum pan, then screw on the bottom lip spoiler and you're done. Total cost $ 0.00 if you have the sandpaper and a little black paint. Time, about 90 minutes.

 

Ouch! Nice recovery

 

Good work.

 

Hey Duane, Weren't you installing new springs on your car to lower it. Did you ever get around to doing it?

 

I have the Springs, but haven't done it yet. Two reasons:

1) Because the roads in Northern VA are crap and I'm already scraping as it is (second thoughts on things)

2) I have those cheesy Made in China $ 39.95 spring compressors my buddy loaned me and those always freak me out because if they break, that spring is takin' off me 'head, and I need my head - so I have to buy a decent clamshell unit and haven't' done that yet.

 

Not to drift too far o.t., but I too was looking forward to seeing your car with the ace convex wheels, and lowering springs

 

Thanks for this post. I'll bookmark it for future reference. I know it is only a matter of time before I hit a curb or one of those concrete stoppers in the parking lots. Like you I drove a P-car (996 cabriolet) before the Aston and can't judge how far the Aston's nose sticks out.

 

I really wanted to do mine too but I have the same fear you do. Living in Southeast Michigan our roads are horrible too, plus I also bring the car down to the Tail of the Dragon and up to Northern Michigan at least once a year. Its not bad local around town because I know of the hazards but once you get on unfamiliar roads that is where you have to worry.

 

Don't bother with generic products. Go to a good auto paint store and buy something that is made for this job. Don't forget the paint while you're there.

 

I've gone through two lower splitters \ lip spoilers already lol. Relatively inexpensive to get from a UK dealer (think mine was about $100 shipped from UK) but shipping due to the odd size almost doubled that. I almsot want to order in a bunch and resell them on eBay or something. What can I say I hit stuff!

 

$100 only?? That's great news, i'm sure it's just a matter of time before I need one myself for the DB9. Am actually considering a camera in front with the image manually switched on and off to view in the rear view mirror. The (almost identical) replacement mirror is also auto dimming but I would loose the three home-link buttons. Quoted $800 installed. That's figuring anywhere from 4-6 hours labor I'm told.