Okay, some quick first impressions!

The wheels look awesome on the car. Gives it a much sportier look and more elegant at the same time compared to the original wheels. As the car sits, it doesn't really need spacers. There's enough fender gap to "blend" the difference between the outside of the fenders and the face of the wheels. We've got some springs from VelocityAP going on the car, and those should get rid of a bit of the fender gap. But once lowered, the offset with the wheels will probably be more obvious, so I'm expecting to put on the spacers that came with the car.

Speaking of VelocityAP, the car has secondary cat deletes (pretty much straight pipes) and I was expecting it to be really loud at startup. It isn't. It's surprisingly quiet at idle. Starting it up in a garage will give a nice reverberation so it'll sound a bit loud, but really it's not... it's a great subtle-yet-aggressive tone. Very smooth when you get on it and no drone when cruising. In my opinion, the secondary cat deletes are a perfect complement to the car. It's perfectly tame when cruising and when in stop-and-go traffic, but is responsive and carries speed very well when you get on it. It isn't sluggish at all. It's very balanced, and very impressive. I thought it would have the VelocityAP tune on it when it arrived, but I guess it doesn't... gonna be interesting to see the difference. Since the tune isn't on it yet, it's good to note that there isn't a fault warning for the missing secondary cats!

Speedracer800 added a DBS shift **** to it and, while stupid expensive for a shift ****, it has a huge impact on the car. One of my biggest problems with the standard setup is that chrome-ish shifter surround. I friggin' hate it. I actually have a carbon fiber one on the way to replace the one in my car. But the DBS shift **** matches it, and makes it look like a cohesive design rather than an out of place part. It sounds odd that one part would completely change how I feel about a part that I hate, but it's all about design, and the DBS **** nails it.

He also put in the metal dials, which are beautiful. Along with the DBS ****, they make the interior look much more classy. He's already replaced the map lights with LEDs (hey, I sell those! *insert sales pitch here*), so that helps a lot with the look. Another awesome touch is the alcantara-wrapped steering wheel. The alcantara is only on the sides (the top and bottom are still leather), and it gives it a really cook look and a nice, comfortable feel. The one key thing I'd recommend to finish the look in the interior is to replace the plastic buttons with glass ones (hey, I sell those too!). The DBS **** and metal dials have such a nice, elegant, classy look that the standard plastic buttons stand out as not being up to par, so a glass switch kit would have a big impact here.

Some other things I noticed is that the steering is rather heavy, but quick. So you have to give it more muscle than I had expected, but it still reacts without feeling sloppy or slow to turn. The brakes take a bit more muscle than my V8V to get the same stopping power. And you can feel the weight of the big V12 when turning the car. Beautiful, powerful, comfortable (I think the seats are even a little more comfy than the updated ones from '07+). Altogether, a great GT car. I'll post up pics this weekend!

Guy's name was Clint, can't remember his wife's name. But the people that picked it up from you were different than the ones that delivered it to me. It had to be transferred to a different truck in MI before coming to me.

SheriffDep said it was something he wants to do. We've got about three fewer weeks than we had anticipated before he comes and gets it, so that might have to wait until he gets more time to do it.

 

I need to do better at keeping up with my blog, so I figured covering Andrew's car would be a good way to do it!

http://www.redpants.lol/blog/2016/11...part-1-arrival

 

I agree with you completely regarding the exhaust.. It's the perfect set up for the V12 cars. I can promise you there's no noticeable performance advantage from swapping out an aftermarket back box.. There is however a very significant weight savings of course. The real power advantage comes directly from removing the godawful secondary cats. My Xpipe gives you a bit more power but changes the exhaust "tone" very significantly. I don't "love" it on my DBS.. Or when I had it installed on the DB9. I've tried the Xpipe with every possible back box imaginable.. Even had Stuart build me a pair of really small custom silencers and then he even set me up with a pair of "muffler delete" pipes.. Nothing has really blown my hair back. The tone from the Xpipe kinda took over and nothing gives it back the more "throaty" sound I'm craving.. Like the db9 has now. I've got a beautiful pair of custom silencers as well as a pair of muffler delete pipes available for sale if anyone is interested however??

Can't wait to see the work come together Telum has planned. Speaking of which.. I'm sorry for the confusion regarding the installation of the ecu tuning.. I thought the plan was you were to do that.. Hope that doesn't screw you up at all. :/

You're also spot on regarding the shift ****.. Such a massive transformation. I LOVE that chunky piece of beautiful Aston Martin art work! Beyond the obvious gorgeousness of it, there's a performance advantage to be had also. It's a fuzz longer and the extra heft of it improves the shifting. It's like the extra weigh makes the shifting mechanism work better or something.. It's hard to describe but it's amazing. People talk about it getting hot during the summer months.. Hog wash! A tiny price to pay and it's never been so hot that it becomes an issue or the least bit uncomfortable. The shift **** combined with the aluminum hvac/stereo hardware really modernizes the early cars with the plastic buttons. Incidentally I still have 2 more brand new shift ***** as well as a brand new complete set of the other aluminum *****. (Photo attached).. Pm me if anyone is interested in this stuff. I'm doing a little bit of garage clearing of my extras that have piled up over the years. Sorry for the shameless classified plug.. lol

 

Shoot me a price for those *****

 

I'll send you an email.. I've also got one of these I'm looking to unload too.

They were hanging in an Aston Martin showroom and I think they're outstanding!

I met this guy who was the sales manager at a dealership and he acquired them when they remodeled the place. I only wanted one but he had a pair of them. So I took them both to make sure the other would wind up in the proper home.. (last shameless "for sale" plug.. I promise)

You're pre-approved as a proper home.. Haha

 

I am very excited with the progress! I literally am constantly hanging till I see the next post, or bit of information.


Interstingly it kinda feels like I am watching someone elses car go through this process. Like I am looking in from the outside, instead of being the one in the middle of it. Hope that makes some sense.


Holding out on me------ One of those AM signs would have fit nicely in the back seat of the car when it was being transported. I think my storage location for the car (parents beach house garage) needed one of those on the wall. Instead I opted for the $75 likely foam backed 4ft long ones from that UK site. Plus a Ford one for the 92 5.0 Mustang in the garage too.


*****, I like them, never have seen them, so likely wont know the difference of the before and after quality. I will just always know quality, except for the glass buttons. Those are on the list.

 

Oh boy, that is a nice sign. What do you want for it, with shipping out to Oxnard CA?
Ron

 

Sliced a chunk of finger clean off on some metal, but progress is happening!



Removing the main panel was a HUGE pain. The wires have almost no slack at all, so getting my hands behind the panel to disconnect everything was horrible. Getting it back together is gonna suck lol...

 

Thanks for the update, you can repair your finger when your done!

Serious note---- any way it might be possible to run a few wires out of that mess to a Cigarette lighter plug with a pair of USBs on it and have that set of wires with the plug come out behind the drivers seat near the floor. Thought it might be nice to have some plugs to charge iPod, iPad, or iPhone instead of the cigarette lighter in the center. That way all wires are out of the way. Just a thought if possible. If a big deal then no worries I will tackle that probably next year.

Thanks for the update!!!!!!

 

Also----- those chrome like or silver seat caps that are on top of the black caps likely, I hate them. Makes it look cheap IMHO, can you pop those off while you at things in those areas?? The black plastic OEM ones are bad also, but until someone comes up with glass ones, or CF ones or something better I will live with OEM> Just a thought also.

Thanks

 

Quick pic to show the black door caps. Super busy with Thanksgiving stuff but got a bit of work done on the car! Replaced the wood trim with black leather

 

Nice work Redpants! I was checking out your site this morning....very nice. Excited to see you post more and more there. I'm a new fan!!!!

Jim
2007 DB9, getting ready to embark on the following DIY Projects this winter:

Headliner removal and reinstall (Quilted like Speedracer did to his old DB9)
Metal **** install
LED Lights
DBS Shifter install
Cat delete pipes

 

Looks fantastic! Did you wrap the original ones in leather or completely replace?

 

I honestly prefer the platinum finish to the carbon fiber. Platinum with piano black console, stainless ***** and glass switches, black leather... best combo ever!

 

It appears I agree with you on the platinum looks awesome now on the doors where before I think it looked out of place. Door looks up to date rather than eccentric.