wow that update to the doors is a huge improvement.

 

No stopping now!!

......get it? ...... well I think I'm funny

 

Thanks!

Most of that is pretty easy, and are great projects to familiarize yourself with the car. The headliner is the one that stands out to me as being a bit more difficult. A couple of guys on here have done it, but I've never tried it (and honestly don't want to!).

The LED lights only take a couple minutes, nice and quick with a big improvement for the interior: http://www.redpants.lol/led-map-lights/

The shifter is really easy, too. I've got an alcantara shift boot and shift **** on the way for my car, and I'll be using them for a full write-up on that. There's only a little more to do after removing the that bottom panel, but it's worth documenting.

I'm a fan of the cat deletes on the V12. Sounds awesome, no drone, and no CEL or fault codes.

Looking forward to seeing your projects!

It's completely replaced. Wrapping the original would have made it way too thick. The new ones weren't a perfect fit, though, which was odd. I had to file out the holes in the door cards to get the screw holes in the new door caps to line up. Took a bit of extra work, but I got them just right

 

Just make sure you order a bag of these #4G43-MXC1800-AA; 8pcs required for the headliner itself and another 10 (I believe) for both sides that run along the A pillar all the way to the back.

 

Best tip. I replaced all of them when I did the headliner on that DB9. Always a good idea to replace these guys anytime popping an interior panel loose for any reason. They'll never bite like they used to.. That's where the dreaded rattles and squeaks come from.

I even like to replace the little metal spring clips on the back of the dash pieces. When you go to put it back together you'll DEFINITELY feel the difference between the clip that's been in the car under tension for years versus a brand new set. These parts are the cheapest pieces to be had from any Aston Martin parts department (literally) so just get all of them for reassembly.

 

Well all news is not good news


1. Glad to have REDPANTS do the 2yr Service on the car, but found the intake filters likely haven't been replaced for 4 yrs, but if done 2 years ago they were horribly dirty on the outside. The underneath portions of the filter were clean!!! They did do their job and were the RFC filters.


2. Oil change went well and oil looked good that came out of the car.
3. Due to time constraints the lowering Velocity AP springs will not be installed on the car so a major portion of my modifications wont get done due to REALIABLE shippers waiting to the very last minute to deliver the car on the agreed timeframe. Not sure if that's normal but I am less than happy that they did that. Service was good and very professional, however planning and time wasn't.
4. All mods are going well, just waiting on Copper Calipers to come back from the powercoaters then installed on the car.


5. Last items will be the CF parts, due to Rich having to do some driving to embed the pads on the brakes and make sure it stops. Then lastly install the CF bits.


Look forward to seeing the car end of the week. However due to my OCD with needing to have Paint absolutely perfect I have my work next week cut out for me. Car is badly swirled and need a thorough Paint Correction done.

 

The RSC filters were super dirty, but clean on the inside. I was honestly surprised at how clean the inside of the filters looked compared to the outside. That may have been a function of them being oiled. I have my thoughts on that but that's for another thread, and I'd like to do more research and have some discussions with oiled filter manufacturers to hash out my logic on them.

The usual oil was found in the intake manifolds. A literal pool of it immediately behind the throttle body on the driver side (found while doing the oil change, which requires the throttle body to be removed). Also found the 'trickle' of oil going down the intake tubes toward the filters.

I've got pictures of the filters and oil I'll post up when I have a chance to get to them.

 

I understand what you mean regarding these filters.. Honestly, I'll never use them again (probably for the same reasons you're eluding to).

Those filters on the db9 were serviced by me back in spring of 2015. Because of the oil, they get a filthy appearance very quickly. This is by design and the oil is there to be a dust magnet. The throttle bodies were serviced at that time as well. So probably 4000-5000 miles of use is what you're seeing..

I've always used K&N filters etc in all my cars up until I started noticing all the oil collecting in the throttle bodies. I'll never use an oiled filter again because of how susceptible these cars are to the oiled up intakes. I should have just tossed those filters the last time I removed them for service really. Why allow one more source of oil into the intake via these filters when there's conventional (hi flow) filters in the marketplace to use instead.. My opinion.. For whatever it's worth.

 

The oil behind the throttle bodies is due to the recirc hoses dumping it there. It's the same issue as the V8, and is why I've got the catch cans for those cars and am developing them for the V12. I should have a prototype ready in the next month or so.

Oiled air filters is another issue. The OEM filters have a breathable paper filtration media. The good thing is that they are very good at filtering because the 'pores' are so small. The bad thing is that they're restrictive because the pores are so small. Oiled filters use cloth filtration media. The good thing is that they aren't restrictive at all because air can pass through the weave so easily. But that limits their ability to filter as contaminants can just pass right through the fibers along with the air. So oil is used so that the fibers are 'sticky', causing contaminants to stick to them rather than pass by. This is where part of the issue is. But that causes dust to basically cake onto the filter, which becomes very restrictive very quickly.

There's a lot more to it than just that, though. I'll probably write a blog post with my thoughts on this when I get some time - I don't want to hijack this thread with intake discussion Point being, I tend to avoid oiled air filters and stick with OEM (which I have on my Aston) or aftermarket dry filters (which I have on my 4Runner).

 

I agree with you completely. I've used cotton / gauze filters for years and years. My point is in addition to the oil accumulating naturally through the crank case evac system in the throttle bodies with oiled filters you're now introducing more oil into the intake (if not cleaned and re oiled correctly) so why risk it. Even when they are oiled correctly, I've seen the filter oil migrate into the air intake tubed of vehicles. I wasn't as concerned about it happening with my Aston though because of how low the filters sit up front in relation to the intake manifold. I'm done with reusable oiled filters forever. Can't wait for your V12 catch can set up man! I'll be the second guy to order it up!

 

The air filters stood in stark contrast to everything else I've changed out. The engine oil was rather clean as far as used engine oil goes. The cabin filters look barely used at all a tiny bit of dust, a few bugs - not the leaves, pine needles, and swarms of insects I'm used to seeing. The engine intake filters? Caked with dirt.





Onto another subject... I got almost done with the Garmin project and hit an obstacle that we can get past right now, so I had to backtrack and undo all the work I did. Long story short, the piano black panels I need to use to mount the Garmin aren't usable. The substructures of the piano black panels is metal. The substructures of the original wood panels is plastic. None of the pieces are interchangeable between the piano black and wood finishes. So that sucks, but it's how these things go sometimes.

In other news, these copper sill plaques from Tony Hall are beautiful:



Before


After


A really nice touch was that Tony included the copper screws. They're slightly different than the original screws, but close enough that you won't notice unless you look closely. Primary difference is that the originals had a flat top and these copper ones have a slight dome.

 

Wow that copper plate is so cool, I am drooling.

One thing I really miss about the aston is the interior, both the build quality and the material used.

 

Well I found a perfect spot for my new tool. I purchased a Rupes iBrid short neck polisher several weeks ago for the Paint Correction for this vehicle. Perfect excuse to buy a toy. But, if you look at the last picture that REDPANTS posted, and look at the bright light area on the painted section below the plate, you can see the scratches and marring in the paint clearly. This is the door jamb area, where the clear coat is not as thick as the body panels but can be polished the same way. That strip appears to be about 1" or so, which the Rupes has capabilities of a 1" and 2" pads. You can use those pads in rotary mode (spinning circular with no side to side movment) or in dual action mode 3mm or 12mm (spinning circular with oscilating side to side pattern) depending on how wide the strip is. You don't want to have the pad touch anything during its side to side motions, so given the choices on how its used, you can tailor it to the painted strip perfectly. I likely will use the 3mm oscilating piece and a 1" pad to correct that strip, but if its really close, I will use the rotary piece only to prevent touching the rubber weather strip. Might even either tape up that strip to allow for better and more correction, or could remove it, if its not glued in. But, at least the new toy found its target. I will post pictures and the whole process in a very long thread sometime in the next two weeks once I physically can touch the car.

 

Thank you!!!!
I debated back and forth on what to put, that one is obviously a clear printed Vinyl on top, but I wanted the clarity on graphics and color on the wings. SO we decided to run that route, which could be changed down the road if need be. I like doing things that are reversible if need be.


Again, thanks thought that might look good with the upcoming copper calipers that hopefully we will see within the next 24hrs.

 

I have a big weakness for copper, I like all my faucets and pots and pan in copper Always wanted to switch all the ***** and metal trim pieces in the car to copper but didn't have the interior leather color to pull that off