It didn't appear to be overly tight.

 

I had the o rings in hand but I could only break one of the four bolts loose. I put as much pressure on the bolts as I could but was afraid to apply more pressure for fear of damaging the bolt head or breaking off the bolts.

In retrospect I should have applied some heat to the bolts as that may have helped. The next time I have the car on the lift, I may drain the oil into a clean receptacle and then try once again to remove the bolts.

 

Nice write up and pictures on your recent Vantage project!

I had a similar problem with the screen fasteners when I did my first oil change some years ago. I had difficulty removing only one-stripped the head; I used my small angle grinder to remove some of the head material and relieve the stress on the fastener; it then came loose easily using a cold chisel to rotate it.

A trip to my local hardware store for replacement metric Allen head cap screws and problem solved!
No more fear of stripping the head when removing-just don't overtighten .

 

I replaced the door struts on my 07 Vantage today. It was easy with the car on a lift and the wheel well liners removed. Now the doors stay open even when it's cold outside.

 

Because of someone using something caustic on the wheels to remove the brake dust, I wanted to minimize that happening to my newly refinished wheels. After doing a search looking for brake pads with reduced dust, I decided on installing a set of Porterfield R4s pads.

The first day I drove the car with these pads, I wasn't sure I had made a good choice as I had quite a bit of squealing, in spite of lubricating the rear of the pads. However, I now have driven the car around five hundred miles and the am happy to report that the squealing went away after about 50 miles. Dust reduction has been exactly what I was looking for which makes me a pleased customer. Well worth the cost.

I have had Brembo's on a number of Porsche's over the years. As with those cars, replacing pads is very easy. For normal street driving, the pads have functioned well. Since I gave up track days quite a few years ago, I won't be able to comment on how they handle extreme driving but I have read positive comments concerning track use.

Now that I have fixed the niggles on the car, I can really enjoy it!! It was sunny and seventy here yesterday as my wife and I took a later afternoon drive. After running through the gears yet again, I told her I cannot get enough of that sound!!

About three years ago when I did a body off restoration of a 1964 Corvette coupe, Nick, one of my son's colleagues at Toyota Racing Development (TRD) did the major repair work on the frame. He is a fabricator there, has an engineering degree and is a master welder. Since he would not take any money for his work, I offered him a ride in the Corvette when it was back together, but sold it before that happened. I had a Ferrari 348 for a year or so and Nick was going to get to drive it, but, again, I sold it before that happened. Story of my life!!

My son Matt has a 525HP LS3 in his '69 Camaro which is very sweet sounding. He has owned this car for 16 years which makes me wonder if he is really my son, as I don't tend to keep cars a long time. When he drove the Aston a couple weeks ago, he raved about the sound the engine makes. And he reminded me I still owed Nick a drive. Did that yesterday as I met them for lunch. Nick was in seventh heaven. He had never driven anything even remotely like the Aston. He absolutely loved the car and was so excited to be driving it. My debt has been repaid!!

 

Check out chemical guts sure. They have all kinds of products. They have a under carriage detailer that's really good.

 

I meant chemical guys.