Table of Contents (by page number)

1. Introduction / Vantage Purchase details / Taillight disassembly
2. Cars sold to fund the project / Repaired headlight assemblies
3. Plastic polishing / Auto Art model / Air boxes Re & Re / Cabin air filter removal
4. Front fender damage / Audit of all 3 fuse boxes
5. Engine bay detailing / Detailing of all interior carpeting
6. Purchased OEM wheels & tires / Nameplate polishing / Key fob battery replace / Scan ECM for DTC
7. Wheel well liner repair / Collecting parts for regular service & maintenance
8. Show ‘n Go license plate installation with key fob remote
9. Lower mesh return to OEM / Asanti to OEM wheels / Show ‘n Go install 2.0
10. 3M wrap sill plates / Hatch alignment / Clear tail lamp install / Hand brake pads Re & Re / Lift struts replaced
11. Rear brake pads Re & Re / Vantage passes Safety Certification
12. Leather cleaning & conditioning / DIY oil change / 1st Vacation road trip in the Aston
13. Squealing front brake rotor fix / DIY transaxle fluid replace / LED interior light swap / Measured Vantage curb weight
14. Show ‘n Go 3.0 (wiring & video) / Front fender & side skirt repairs
15. Prime, paint & reassembly of body panels / 3M window tinting / Stone guard discussion
16. Sun Tek clear film application / Re & Re of wipers (video) / DIY buff, polish & wax paint
17. Cruise night / Aftermarket Bluetooth removal in favour of portable unit / Aston Martin Toronto Uptown dealer visit
18. Car show Pier 4 with forum member Cadman / Niagara wine cruise with AMOC (video)
19. 2nd DIY oil change with Castrol Edge / Audi S5 daily driver / AMOC dealership tour / Cruise night with forum member Handyman2009
20. British Car Show / AMOC Snowbirds event (videos) / Removal of damaged clear film / Windshield stone chips repaired / Niagara cruise with 911 Turbo
21. Sharing Aston with family / Prep work for offsite winter storage / 3M window tint S5
22. Redpants Air filters / Velocity AP tuner & 200 cell cats / To-Do spring project wish list
23. Printed Vantage Workshop manual / Purchased Starter / Premium Audio project parts
24. 2018 Vanquish & DB11 V8 / Premium Audio parts / CF Tail light Inserts / Wheel Spacers
25. Battery load tester / Smoked Marker Lenses / Dyno plans / Volvo remote / Jack Pads
26. Platinum Auto Body Paintwork progress
27. Installing LED Strip lights in the Smoked Markers / VelocityAP GT4 Headers
28. Ceramic Coating of headers at Fireball / Front and Rear Wheel Spacers installation / Rear Vantage Badge delete
29. Carbon Fiber Taillight inserts install / Stone or "Splash" Guards installed / Side Repeaters, Rear Reflectors, Marker lights all replaced with smoked lens
30. Temp storage for the Vantage / Trip to Buckhorn & Bobcaygeon / T-Stat replacement / O2 Sensors replacement
31. Emissions Test / Washer bottle Re & Re / Bond Charity event / AMOC Spring Drive / Headers and 200 Cell Cats installed / Fix Active exhaust
32. Videos of new exhaust sound / Stone Guard film replaced / Air Box delete brackets installed / Powder-coating grilles and vents
33. Artist rendering of my Vantage / AMOC meets at Old Mill and Casa Loma
34. British Car Day 2018 / AMOC Yorkville event / Moved out of the city for more space / Epoxy floor DIY in main garage / AWZR1 shares WNY Exotics photos
35. DBS Superleggera / AMOC Summer cruise 2019 / Polish and waxing / Wilwood rotor assembly / Sessanta Miglia Giro di Niagara 2019 /
36. Wilwood brake install / Velocity AP lowering springs installed into stock coilover shocks
37. Broken front spindle bolt extracted / lowering springs install / Porterfield RS4 brakes pads and caliper pins installed / New rear Michelin PS4 tires / wheel spacers
38. Brake fluid / handbrake pads / Vantage at Toronto Auto Show / Sessanta Miglia Giro di Niagara / another Vantage in the family / exhaust tips / LED marker lights
39. Unit heater for the garage / Premium Audio conversion project / removal of strut braces for powder coating
40. FM antenna relocation / Tail lights and Headlights re/re for smoke tinting
41. PS 4S front tires / Leaking washer bottle repair / oil change / interior parts re/re for vinyl wrapping / Carbon fiber side strakes / plastic to glass interior button mod


I'm Ryan from Niagara and am a DIY car guy. I have built a couple Fiero based project cars over the last decade (Google "Fiero2m8 newest project") and before that I was into German cars and Jeeps but these days I was ready for something new to indulge my car passion.
RedPants website and YouTube videos encouraged me to go after my dream car, an Aston Martin Vantage - FYI, my parents were both born in England and my dog's name is Aston.

My daily driver is a Subaru BRZ 6 speed with E-Force Supercharger I installed myself. So my super car goal since 2005 has been a Vantage coupe 6-speed I first saw at the dealer in Troy, Michigan. My budget and the fact I don't like 2006 seats had me focused on 2007 model. I couldn't afford 2009+ knowing my expenses will continue after purchase. Honestly, if I wasn't handy enough to do my own maintenance and labour repairs, I wouldn't have taken the leap into Aston ownership (after learning from my Dad's past Jaguar experiences). After 6 months of looking at many 2006-2008 Vantages, I purchased a 2007 privately that was as close to exactly want I wanted (as you can get for a 10 year old used car that had a huge option list). I wasn't afraid of miles as I intend to drive it - life is short. I also didn't want to be afraid to drive a low mileage car, so went with one that has depreciated a lot, even though I plan to keep it long term. I love how rare they are in my area and how the general public with an untrained eye can't tell the difference from a 2017 model.

I read the Aston Martin Gaydon era definitive guide book which was invaluable during my search and I highly recommend it.

After many dealer visits where I was the expert on Vantages compared to them, I decided I didn't want to pay extra money for a detailed engine bay. So I bought mine privately from a very cool non-car guy who purchased the Vantage 5 years ago as his first car (which I couldn't relate too)! Turns out I used to work for his father's previous company so there was a nice connection there. It's in colours I like, but it needs a little TLC. Other than the driver's seat bolster it's cosmetically good. It's a lightly optioned car from Florida but was imported to Canada during the real estate crash in 2008 and now has 59,000 miles. I ended up purchasing the car AS-IS for $9,000 off the asking price due to the safety check quote below.

1.00 Safety Certificate 130.00
1.00 Battery 264.00
0.50 Check Charging System, 55.00
(Tested Battery, Found Battery Defective, Re/Re Battery)
1.00 Rear Pads 761.00
1.00 Rear Handbrake Pads 226.00
2.50 Remove And Replace Rear Pads and Handbrake Pads 275.00
2.00 Front Headlight Assemblies (left & right) @ 3,835.95 = 7,671.90
8.00 Re/Re Front Left & Front Right Headlight Assembly (flashers) 880.00
1.00 Right Rear Parking light not working - Taillight Assembly 2,264.64
4.00 Remove And Replace Right Rear Taillight Assembly 440.00
2.00 Hood Shocks 66.82 = 133.64
0.50 Remove And Replace Hood Shocks 55.00

Note:
Needs Right / Rear Tire
Emissions Required On Dash
Check Engine Light On (maybe due To Battery)
Passenger Window Does Not Go Up All The Way (maybe Battery Also)

VEHICLE:2007 Aston Martin Vantage
Quote Total $ 14,894.73

A special shout out to RedPants (Telum01) who was very helpful pricing parts, providing advice and instructions to install them myself. This helped my price negotiation. The safety quote was not from an AM dealer but prices in CDN funds (x 0.75 for USD), still seemed high!

In retrospect buying AS-IS was a Win-Win for both the buy and seller. I've already placed my first parts order with Rich and will post updates and pictures on my progress as I go.
I look forward to meeting forum members, being part of this online community with a shared passion for Aston's and will help however I can.

Cheers, Ryan
007V8Vantage

 

Welcome. Sounds like you did your homework, read a very imformative book and have a few good sources for parts. It seems that your car does have a few more needs than normal but it also has a few more miles than most. The 2007 models appear to be very common on this forum and I'm sure there will be many who will be willing to give good advice. Enjoy your new baby and post pics soon!

 

congrats Ryan, finally i got a neighbour, ,i,m close to port dover(home of friday the 13th)

 

Congrats and let the fun begin!

 

Congrats on the car and welcome to the forum, Ryan!!

 

where did you do the PPI?

and why does it need new front and rear lights? that's almost 10k of lights after tax

 

Welcome to the forum and nice to see another fellow Canadian (and Ontarian). Cheers!

 

Congrats on the new purchase, you need to post a few pictures

 

Thanks all for responses - definitely more than I was expecting within 24 hours...and so many from Ontario really surprised me.

Yes it's averaged about 10,000 km a summer each year based on service history. With MY2007 being highest production year with approximately 7400 AM's built worldwide, I did see more of them available than other years. One plus is the clutch on this one felt the best of those I drove as it was replaced in 2015.

Thanks Cadman, I know your area well as it was in my territory for work. You inspired me to disassemble my headlights based on your thread of fixing your own!

Sanjay the quote was from McNally Auto in North York. The Front turn signals in the headlight buckets don't work and the right rear parking light in the taillight doesn't work (likely due to it having an inch of water in it). The left rear taillight is new replaced by previous owner last summer.

Yes I figured out the method I'll use to post pics, so I definitely owe those in the next post!

 

Weclome...I wish you well...There are many helpful guys on this site. One trick I used was read many old threads that were in the year of my car so I could understand possible future problems. You will be shocked most are not crazy things that break....Many will make you laugh and learn how not to treat and drive your car.....Haha oh
​​​​read the threats on cleaning and detailing... Wonderful....Good wishes again

 

When I went to view the Vantage, it was in a garage on "The Bridal Path". Ontarian's will have heard of this upscale neighborhood and our US friends may have heard of it because rapper DRAKE is building his mansion on that street in Toronto.

 

Nice find, I had a used 2007 Vantage as well for two years. Very good cars, I think 2007 is a good choice for your first Vantage. If you would like a set of original 19" 2007 Vantage wheels let me know. They are still in my garage, and are in very good shape, no Curb rash. If you go to your local Aston Martin dealer and show them your car or send them your registration and Vin number. They can print up your build sheet that will have the interior color and all of the options.
That's a very unusual interior color after a good cleaning and conditioning it should look stunning. Injoy your car, it is a beauty
Ron

 

The interior color is "Sandstorm " its the same as mine , glad to see you didnt choose one with a black interior . With some cleaning and detailing looks like it will be a nice. Get some carbon fibre film (cheap off fleabay) and wrap those sill plates to hide all that scraping from the old owners lazy entries into the car . Im not sold on the wheels but each to their own as they say .
Enjoy the ride .
Glad to see another Ontarian with a Vantage .

 

Thanks Ron for the kind words and advice on the build sheet via dealer. Yes I agree an early baby Aston with the 4.3L is a great start. I'm going to pick up stock wheels locally but thanks for the offer!

Thanks, Sandstorm would have been my first guess. Yes I'm looking forward to detailing but focusing on mechanical first (to get it on the road next month). I don't like how the sill plates look purple to me so yes they'll be addressed (added to the list). The wheels are Asanti 142 3-piece wheels ($4,500 USD a set).

 

Vantage is home so time to start dismantling parts that are going to be replaced when my new parts arrive. Unfortunately I am "garage less" at the moment, (long story) so you'll see what can be done outside in a very tight space!

First I used my car ramps to elevate the front end and remove the damaged and broken front valance:


Next figure out why right rear parking light not working - wait a minute (reviewing pics I'd already taken) it has a water line about an inch from the bottom!
Note to self - RE/RE tail light is not a 4 hour job like the $440 I was quoted (removal took 4 minutes BTW):


Removed screws, let water drain (seriously 6 oz. into a glass) and then used my air compressor to thoroughly dry:


Time to open it up despite being a "permanent" seal. A few minutes on the grill (or BBQ as us Canucks call it) works like a charm. Temp of 100C or 225F works best then you can release tabs with flat screwdriver and pull lens off by hand:




Oh no, lots of water damage inside, (white powder) so going with "Plan B" which is order a clear taillight kit (something I wanted to do eventually anyways).
I'll keep the left rear red one as parts since it's almost new.
Better remove the black painted inserts I'll need to transfer over.
No tools needed just carefully pulled clips out and worked my hand along to release the two way tape.
More to come soon as it's the weekend.
Everything will be posted in picture date order...