Sold, awesome idea so I still get a glove box - thanks for the tip

Ask and you shall receive - BTW I was cleaning interior leather when you posted this which is why there were no pics so far!
I've been going as fast as I can and now that the door struts are back in, it was a lot easier to clean interior leather
Between that and washing the exterior several people walking by asked if the car was brand new (always a good sign the TLC is paying off and how far it has come back).



















I'll show the work in progress photos in next post.
While the sandstorm leather shows more dirt than darker colours, there is a greater sense of accomplishment cleaning it and seeing the before and after. For example the steering wheel before and after you couldn't tell the difference in photos...

 

Okay, I watched a few videos on utube and decided round one of cleaning would be with a cleaner only (Auto Glym that AM recommends), even though I had a few bottles of Meguiars Cleaner/Conditioner. I also bought a brush at Lowes as since it's so dirty. My steps all by hand were 1) spray cleaner onto leather 2) use brush to build lather and get into texture and stitching 3) sponge scrub on marks and spots 4) wipe up with another sponge using clean warm water 5) Buff with clean micro fiber towel.

I also have Leather Balm to apply when I'm completely done with cleaning:

My practice and testing was on a piece I could easily remove from the car:


Here's the typical dirt I was up against:


BTW - I switched to Red Wine for this task




Pretty noticable difference - obviously it doesn't fix leather damage but getting dirt out of the pores really gives an upscale look:


Don't work too big an area at once - you don't want the cleaner drying on the leather and once lathered remove within 2 minutes. Here's a door brushed and after:




The driver's door was obviously a lot worse and I did the upper panel several times. I see that I need to come up with a fix for the tired arm rest and maybe change to a darker colour or dye back to original colour:


Something funky going on here - looks like it was painted tan over the silver and now it's peeling. Any suggestions appreciated:


Driver's side looks fine:




Dash and console really went well especially the colour matched stitching and anywhere hands had touched regularly:




Spent the most time on the seats:




Even took time to untwist the drivers seat belt (a pet peeve of mine):


Aston was on guard watching over me like a manager:


He even keeps an eye on the car while I eat my Fish 'n Chips on the porch


...but I think he approved of the work. I haven't had the heart to tell him there's no back seat for him in the Vantage

 

Well I feel like I've got through a baptism dealing with the famous Torx bolts.
I am pretty sure no one else had been in there in a while (no big surprise, lol) as it was I who stripped them. That said there was no junk in either filter. My top tip is don't even bother trying to cut slots into the stripped heads - just grind them off and you can spin the threads out with your fingers once the retaining plate is off. I'm sure there's lots of info changing the oil on the forum so I'm just providing pictures that might help someone. Especially someone considering buying a car like mine and seeing all the things they will likely need to do:

































Added 9 litres and checked oil using instructions near oil dipstick. Needed to add one more so took 10 with filter like the manual said it would:


Alright, I'll be taking a break from the build thread during my vacation until Memorial Day, so take care everyone and I'll chat with you later.
Cheers, Ryan

 

Oh boy, your interior looks amazing! It looks like the driver seat side bolster is the only part of your seats that looks worn. The pasenger seat looks like no one sat in in it. Great job.
Ron

 

Yes I knew the driver's seal bolster was going to be worn prior to viewing the car. First hint was no pictures of the seats in the ad and second I'd seen many Vantages for sale and about 80% had wear there depending on mileage.

However the pic you saw above was when the seat was wet and made it look much worse - here is a pic of it today of how it normally looks - not so bad for a light colour with 10 years of wear:


That said, someday I'll either refurbish the seats or maybe even swap in a pair of black seats in the future.

 

Ryan
how was your trip, did you enjoy the ride in your new toy

 

I love the transformation of your Vantage. wel done! A detailing specialist can fix that bolster like new. I had the same problem paid a couple hundred bucks to get it fixed, it is like new now!

 

Hi again...just think...when you complete your car...you can offer your services to other AM owners and quit the day job....lol

I hope the vacation was great!

 

Great freaking thread Ryan! I don't even own an Aston Martin but found your thread and attention to detail inspiring...guess I should go clean the Panamera.

Cheers!

 

Hi guys, yes back from the trip and while the weather wasn't ideal, we had a good time. I have a habit of taking new rides on long driving trips as it makes getting there half the fun! This trip was no exception as the novelty of the new to me Aston made it special.

Here are the trip stats:

Distance Travelled over 7 days: 2,092 miles or 3,374 km
Average Fuel Mileage for the trip: 19.5 mpg or 12.1 L/100km
Average Speed for the trip: 88 km/h or 55 mph

Here's a short video of the Vantage trip computer I got the stats from:

The trip started on a Saturday morning driving to Virginia Beach. First test was to spend an hour on the bridge in stop and go traffic and car temp and clutch was fine.
We largely stayed off the interstate to really enjoy the drive. Overall including stops it was a 12 hour journey and the only incident was a close call in rural New York state when a lady in her 80's indicated right on a 2 lane highway, slowed down and then started turning left as I was in the process of passing her! Needless to say brake pads are fully bedded in now as I stood on the Brembo brakes

Checked in the hotel on the strip, got VIP parking at the hotel and every restaurant we went - it's a nice perk of having an Aston
The funny moment was that evening cruising the strip and having a guy yell "That car is sexy as F**K!" (never heard that one before)

Next morning, after celebrating our anniversary, time for morning coffee with a view:

I did scrap the bumper cover pulling in a parallel parking spot forward on a busy road. Since you can't see below the windshield from the driver's seat, I learnt my lesson and will back in using sensors from now on

On the bright side, I avoided a parking ticket as the guy hung around to meet me and chat about the car as I was only 5 minutes expired. All he wanted in return was for me to open up the throttle when I left - no problem

It was Day 3 when my wife first drove the Vantage as the DD since we did a craft brewery crawl. She doesn't drink beer while I had a flight at a half dozen places, so she put me to bed and went out for dinner herself...

So the next day, as we left for North Carolina, she drove the first leg as of course, I was hungover After stopping for gas, as soon as I tried pulling away from the pumps a loud screech from the front left wheel! Didn't make a noise in reverse and tried backing up and hitting brakes hard, but no luck.
Brake pedal felt fine but sound was like a brake pad missing! Luckily across the street was "Ricky's Service Garage" (same owners as gas station).
While I couldn't catch most of the accent, I picked up comments like "No dang parts today for that dare ve-hickle" etc. After 5 mins of showing them the manual and inspecting underneath on how to jack the car - it was decided they did not want to take the risk jacking it. So I asked for a 2x4 and jacked the front wheel off the ground so it could be removed. Looking at the back side of the rotor the mechanic noticed a "BB sized pebble in dare" and with a hand turn of the rotor and a pick, it fell on the ground dislodging from the tapered edge of the pad and rotor. With wheel back on I showed manual again to prove torque spec and off to the office I was to pay the bill. Damage to wallet was $20 bucks cash for 20 mins - aka the cheapest outsourced repair I will likely ever have on the Vantage
Not the cars fault - the pebble must have lodged itself in there while pulling into the gas station as there was no groove on the rotor.

The car is wonderful to drive on the highway and I especially love how little wind noise there is windows down so found myself not using the AC much and instead enjoying the sound of the exhaust (especially in tunnels)

Visited the grandparents in Shelby, NC and visited the Earl Scruggs Museum as Earl was her uncle. I highly recommend it if you are a fan of country music or American music history.

Next day we were off to Asheville, NC to see the Biltmore Mansion and Winery for the day - another beautiful place to drive an Aston Martin. A stop at Sierra Nevada Brewing Company for a tour and out for BBQ.
I did get a chance to detail the Vantage and protect all the rubber seals and rub in Leather Balm on the interior the day before heading home.
No issues on the 11 hour trip home up Interstate 77 and 79. I did get pulled over for 79 mph in a 65 mph in West Virginia. Amazingly, just a written warning and a "Nice ride, by the way"
Also got a lot of thumbs up and "WOW's" from a Corvette club convoy where every generation was represented.

I'll post pics from the trip in next posts...Cheers, Ryan

 

Thanks, much appreciated!
Good to know that I can have a specialist repair it for a reasonable price.

 

LOL glad to help others, but it's never as fun when it's not your own ride and then it's no longer a hobby!

To earn enough, I'd certainly have to travel a lot and far as I think I'm the only local owner of an Aston, unless there's one hiding in a garage somewhere...

 

Thanks for looking. I like blogging my progress for car guys who will appreciate it. I know reading threads motivates me when I see great ideas etc.

I have a local friend who owns a Panamera and thought it was him until I saw your location.

Cheerio

 

Much appreciated how light we packed for a week trip - all I did was remove the security cover and throw stuff in with room to spare!


Car clean - no brake dust so I could see difference from front and rear pads during trip:


Hotel parking spot to avoid door dings and best security:




Porterfield RS4 pads did show less brake dust after 12 hour drive:


Nice to see car worthy of Valet's prime coned off spot at the restaurants:


It's definitely one of those cars you look back at after parking


Out front of Green Flash brewing - really glad I went with the clear tail lights:


Yes you get some "Bond" jokes when parking in front of the patio, but the brand is so well appreciated even by non-car people, business owners like to associate the brand with their business...


Special props to the crew at Ricky's Service Garage near the border of Virginia and NC (who gave me piece of mind that the car wasn't broken and didn't take advantage of me thinking I was rich and knew nothing about cars)


Arrived safe and sound in Shelby, NC near Charlotte having enjoyed the ride in luxury with great reliability and better than expected fuel economy:

 

awesome !
i know what you mean about walking away and looking back ,i still do it every time i go out ,