As any of the regulars (who are paying attention to silly details) may notice, I've finally moved to my next Aston. Nope, not the DB9 or Rapide or even Virage I was thinking of and talking about. Instead, I got a gleaming Cobalt Blue V8-S...which was also on my list of "next" Aston Martins (just ask Ross).

Hope I like the lowered suspension. Yes, once again I bought an Aston Martin sight unseen. I'll learn my lesson the hard way.

Meanwhile, much as I love Cobalt Blue, I'm not sure this car is as beautiful as the one I just let go. But I know how to get her there...park it at Karl's house for a season and wait.

Or, get some helpful tips from the forum. I think I'll darken things so that the blue pops more than the white metals and clear plastics.
1. Is there a kit for smoking the lenses of tail lights and side markers? I'd rather do a reversible treatment than buy new parts. And yes, I need to do some forum searching to find the side markers that come smoked
2. How does one darken wheels? I don't want black, just transparent dark tint.
3. how does one darken the chrome strakes?

Any suggestions?

 

Many of us have installed these as replacements for the front markers
https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...de-lights.html
Though advertised as clear, when off they're really more dark or smoke

Side strakes, I did carbon. However, I'd think if you wanted a simpler solution, you could just have them vinyl wrapped. Maybe do the exterior window trim at the same time.

Can't help much on the wheels as mine were anthracite from factory. I'll ask my friend, he refinishes wheels for a living. I have a good idea of the finish you want. I'll see if its possible to do with a refinish

Btw, I really really like the cobalt blue

 

Very nice!
Looks like you'll not need to upgrade the Audio System :-)

Congrats on the new ride. Let me know about the lowering kit and ride. I was just asking the local Butler Tires guys about reducing the gaps at the wheels

 

Congrats, it's beautiful!

A lot of people are running the clear corner lights from eBay and are very happy with them. One of mine was defective - I didn't find out until after I had them tinted. If you do order them, test them out before modifying them.

For tinting, you can spray them (not reversible) or wrap them (reversible). You should be able to do that with the strakes, trim, etc as well.

For the wheels - paint or powdercoat. From what I've been told by pretty much everyone, powdercoating is more resilient than painting. You can also hydrodip, which gives you options for cool designs, but I'm leery about how well they'll hold up over time. If you just want a shade lighter, maybe a dark-tinted clear coat would do the trick?

 

Can't offer much advice, but I have to say that Cobalt Blue looks incredible on a Vantage. It's definitely a color I would love to have on my 2nd Aston.

As for the lowering kit, it doesn't look like the car is so low to be a pain to drive, so I'm sure you'll be fine. Can't wait to see more pictures!

 

Regarding the lowering kit... who's kit is it... H&R or Velocity?

 

^^^^ I would guess H&R since rear looks too low. Also, it doesn't look lowered at all in the first picture, which is confusing.

 

Yeah, I noticed that too. Top pick is an old pic from the car's previous life. I'll see how I like the lower'd kit but I might opt for a change. Yeah, definitely looks a scratch too low in back...and how about shimming those wheels out a bit?

So far, here's what I plan to do:
1. Borrow heavily from the Karl Franz book of automotive styling badassery
2. Black out (satin if possible) the fill panel and the edge of the tail lights
3. Same black out film on the body panel between the tail lights
4. Dark tint clear coat the wheels except for the machined, flat faces
5. Consider the cost/benefit of a V12S grill with blue details
6. Cost/benefit look at carbon mirror caps
7. Black out the window chrome
8. Figure out where/how to keep some red accent to tie the calipers into the rest of the car...without making the poor thing into some union jack looking mess.

Oh, and glass switches (which are actually buttons) on the interior. Who get's the B&O but not the glass? Maybe wasn't an option in '12. But with the all Piano Black interior surfaces, the glass is a must.

Inspiration images:

 

Union Jack looking mess for ya..

 

I think you mean "appropriate and tastefully applied Union Jack".

 

Hmm Looks like you'll also need to invest in getting those calipers powder-coated in yellow.

 

You're not helping in the way I was hoping you'd be helping.

Yes, yellow on blue would be brilliant, but I'm going to make the red work.