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I am in search of the gasket that goes under the antenna, mine has rotted and cracked. You used to be able to get that on its own from Aston, but it seems they're only selling it with the antenna base included. Either its a $125 gasket with a free antenna base, or a $125 antenna base that includes the gasket..I did this on my former 2007 a few years ago, and the 2006 is now in the same spot.
Is the antenna base on the Gaydon era Vantage from another vehicle (Mazda? Ford? Volvo? Jaguar?) I have found base gaskets on Amazon but Aston doesn't always come up with their parts matching scheme, so I'm thinking if it is from another vehicle parts bin, I can match it up that way. So far no lucky on alternate part numbers for either part.
look for a used one online? pull off the old one and often their is a part number in it.
you could also try and make your own gasket. Likely find some gasket materials on line
I realized late last night why the Vantage antenna looks so much more familiar than it should, despite being a two time Vantage owner.
It appears to be the same antenna base as on a VW GTI circa 2005, which I owned when it was new. I found a gasket that fits the VW on Amazon for about $5 bucks shipped, so we'll see if it fits. If you're curious, they call this a bee stinger antenna style.
I realized late last night why the Vantage antenna looks so much more familiar than it should, despite being a two time Vantage owner.
It appears to be the same antenna base as on a VW GTI circa 2005, which I owned when it was new. I found a gasket that fits the VW on Amazon for about $5 bucks shipped, so we'll see if it fits. If you're curious, they call this a bee stinger antenna style.
The good: the gasket is available on Amazon, for under 5 bucks and is for a bee stinger type antenna such as found on a variety of vehicles from the VH era, including Aston Martins. The fit is close, really close.
The bad: the gasket fits, albeit not perfectly, its off by a little less than a millimeter all around where the base sits in the 'tub' the gasket, so it isn't perfect, but for under $5, its acceptable as is, but not perfect.
The ugly: the gasket lifts slightly toward the front once the nut under the base it tightened. Could this be fixed with some adhesive or black silicone, probably. Is it perfect? again, no. Will it work temporarily? Yes.
When i removed the antenna base, the twenty year old original cracked gasket quite literally disintegrated into dust in my hand, eliminating any possibility of accurately measuring it. As such, the relatively ill fitting amazon gasket probably seals better, at least for the time being. I did order a replacement factory A.M. base with gasket from Aston Martin Bits after fitting this one, because it wasn't perfect.
I think if this is taken as a learning experience, there is probably a better fitting gasket available through Amazon, and it may come down to trial and error. You could buy a lot of Amazon gaskets for the 75 pounds UK plus shipping for a new base and gasket. The gasket I have is tapered, but it is deeper in the 'tub', or height of the wall of the upper portion than the OEM seal. Alternatively, and I freely admit not knowing much about this, maybe a silicon 3D printed possibility exists...
In the DIY vein, the nut for the antenna is 22mm. You will need a longer socket to get to it, and it is attached to a notched ring that allows the antenna wires to go through the base of the nut without pinching them. You will not find the size of this nut easily, trust me. Home Depot had the correct sized socket to remove the antenna.
As far as the interior roof trim, beneath the antenna, the panel is pinned up by the roll bar/brace over the parcel shelf, and is secured to the roof via two fir tree trim push pins, the panel is pretty flexible and showed no sign of abuse after I pushed the fir trees home when I put everything back together. To remove/re-locate and gain access above the panel, I used a trim pry bar (plastic) from the trunk side, to get above the edge of the panel behind and below the trunk lip seal. after you pop the trim pieces, it is far easier to get the socket to the base of the antenna nut from inside the cabin, versus sitting in the trunk like a bathtub.
As simple as it appears to be, I think that is deceptive. The lip is angled, the base of the antenna sits in it, with a bevel, and it is very precisely fit and made of some kind of (I would guess) automotive silicone rubber that is fairly stiff but still pliable. I guess one could try, but I would not, personally, hold out much hope for an aesthetically pleasing outcome in my case. When the new base and gasket arrive and I re-do the swap I will get some side by side pictures for comparison of the two 'new' gaskets before and after the swap. If I was forced to make my own, I would probably try to get my hands on a new one and have it scanned and printed vs trying to cut and shape one, assuming the correct material could be found. The original disintegrated dramatically when it was removed, so I suspect that maybe it could have even been some kind of treated natural rubber that does not play nice with UV exposure.
As promised, some comparison photos of the Amazon gasket and the Aston supplied gasket. Amazon gasket to the left, OEM to the right. Amazon to the left, OEM to the right. The powder is corrosion from the antenna base after I removed it to replace the new OEM gasket and base. The Amazon gasket as installed with the OEM base, not quite right. Another view of the Amazon gasket as installed. not quite right but not too bad for under 5 bucks. The correct OEM Aston antenna base and gasket after installation.
