Stuart, I'm sure you guys are busy preparing for your black friday sale but I was hoping to see updates on this very interesting project.

 

Yes we are slammed, but we're actually filming some updates today.

 

Great idea on this Stuart - can't wait to see the progress and end result!

 

Episode 3 is up!

 

That’s really coming along…man I want to hear it and see it moving…need a lottery win…nice work eh..

 

SUPER-VANTAGE Episode 5

We're finally at the stage where we're putting the Aston back together for tests to come(seeing if it runs).

One thing we recently discovered were broken/cracked side skirting on our super-vantage. We thought it would be appropriate to not only relieve this car of any broken pieces, but also update them with A brand new look; Similar, but not OEM.

If you know anything about older paint on some of these high end cars, you'll know that they are truly never 100/100 consistent. Not only are these vehicles being painted by someone individually over 10 years ago, but that sitting in the sun over years damages the finished coat immensely.
So for us to buy new body mods, we need the right painter for the job, and we made sure to get who we think is the best in the valley.

Our friend, JF Launier has been A phenomenon in customizing hot rods, so if anyones gonna know what it takes to match old paint its him.

Check out his opinion on this episode of Project Super-Vantage:



SUPER-VANTAGE EP.5 - Skirts Off - Link in forum

 

Stuart, you should bring this to the Roar in the Rockies event this September! A good long test drive and there would be plenty of folks interested in seeing it!

Jim

 

Can't wait for more installments, and to see the project car in person (I'm blessed to live just 190 miles away from VAP).

 

I’m in the right country..and only 30kms nearer…really must get down there and say hi…hopefully with a look around…lol

 

More than happy to arrange A little tour if you guys are interested
- Brandon / Marketing

 

I would love that..when the season is upon us…thanks for the offer..

 

First off, everyone is welcome for a tour any time they want!

Secondly..... this is the big moment. Startup day! Insert click-baity title here about whether it exploded into pieces.

 

Next episode goes live tomorrow!!!

 

Loving the progress on this! Going to be a really interesting project.

 

Last week I asked Stuart how much $$$. He explained that the changes are not just the supercharger, but essentially changes in the engine which drives up the cost. A few decades ago I had purchased a 928 with a Chevy motor a 95% complete project for $5K. I had Jeff Cheney, a very accomplished engine builder and famous drag racer in Minnesota to add a 6-71 blower to the car assuming we would be looking at a different engine as mine was high compression. He said it should work fine. After the third time blowing head gaskets and other really bad things, he rebuilt the entire engine (at his cost) lowering the compression and changing more robust parts. After that, there were no issues. We dyno'ed 600HP and 600 lbs. trq. at the crank. I was behind my son when a new (15 year ago) turbo Porsche pulled next to the 928 on the highway and they both slowed to about 40 MPH and both punched it. Our $20K total investment on our 928 with a 3 speed automatic did not give an inch to the $250K new Porsche! That was totally fun. The issues were cooling which we overcame, and we blew out the 3 speed transaxle 3 times and fixed that by a shop that did a rebuild with heftier innards.

The GMR kit's a bolt-on without engine changes which Bamford Rose is not a fan of.

I also have one of the rare Kleemann supercharged SLK55's running the lower 520HP upgrade I got from BAT. I have a 2002 SLK32 also which my wife hijacked. The SLK32 had many of the Needswings upgrades, an ECU and a TCU as well as a ton of non-engine updates and upgrades. It's like driving a go-kart with 420HP and instant torque, sheer madness. When I did the TCU, I did not tell my wife and she called to complain that the car 'leaps' everytime she touches the gas, so I set it back to comfort mode. Because the SLK32 was designed as a supercharged engine, and has all of the known upgrades I do not expect any problems. The Kleemann SLK55 is a bolt on to the AMG V8 and to my knowledge is a very reliable conversion, even in it's more extreme 650HP version which I think does internal changes. The SLK55 has 65K miles and I think the conversion was done when the car had low miles. A previous owner had the supercharger rebuilt by Kleemann in 2020. I'm not quite sure why it's reliable, but maybe because the AMG engine is overly robust. The supercharge on the SLK55 adds a ton of weight to the nose of the car and that is felt when driving it, somewhat like the driving difference between the V8 and the V12S Vantage.

I think Stuart is correct in the way they are attacking the job by a more realistic and holistic manner. In the end it's not going to be a cheap upgrade as the GMR and maybe the V12S is a better choice. It will be interesting to see what the numbers and performance is like.