Ready for the summer

All of the work is now complete on our 1978 Aston Martin AMV8.

Here she is this morning looking lovely and clean waiting for owner Chris to arrive.

Aston Martin AMV8 work at Bridge Classic Cars

We had a successful day yesterday working through our list. With the majority of the smaller tasks complete, today we tackled the possible oil leak and oil change.

The boot lock is now repaired, the windscreen wiper blades are now working as they should, the wiring problem that was preventing the aerial from working properly has now been fixed and we’ve even tidied up the boot area.

We also discovered a couple of unexpected issues that we have also rectified; the washer pump was not working at all, the washer jets were out of alignment and all vacuum pipes were either split or collapsed. This was due to incorrect vacuum pipes being used previously.

Unfortunately it has not all been as simple as it may seem. We were asked to investigate a possible leak underneath at the front of the engine. Upon closer inspection the leak is coming from the main oil seal gasket not working efficiently.

Until this issue is resolved, we will not carry out the oil change. The oil change will commence once the seal has been replaced.

We’ve also discovered a slight leak to the radiator. At first glance it looks as though someone has tightened too tightly which has created a pocket for fluid to escape. Unfortunately, it is not a simple case of releasing the tension slightly, there could be more to this so the radiator is best being removed. This task will have to happen anyway to get to the oil seal so this task can be carried out at the same time.

Moving on from this, the brakes have now been bled and the nipples are all freshly re-greased.

Getting started on the task at hand

It’s Monday morning and the first job for the team is to discuss the work for the week ahead.

With a workshop full of projects, all in various stages, the whole team are busy working separately across the projects.

Asa has taken control of the work to be carried out on the Aston Martin AMV8.

One of the tasks is to change the oil. We’ll be using a specialist oil which comes highly recommended across a lot of the Aston Martin forums.

Penrite HPR 15W-60 is recommended for use in modern 4, 6 & 8+ cylinder multi-cam, multi-valve (Including VVT), naturally aspirated, supercharged and turbocharged engines. It is recommended for use in petrol, light duty diesel engines (Non DPF) and LPG/Dual fuel systems.

HPR 15 exceeds the latest European ACEA A3/B4 and API SN/CF requirements, as well as many manufacturers’ specifications. API SN grade oils have 40% less wear, 40% less sludge and 30% less piston deposits than the previous SM grade oils. It can be used where ACEA A3/B3 is recommended and can also be used where previous API specifications SM (2004-10), SL (2001-04) and SJ are recommended.

HPR 15 features the Penrite EXTRA TEN in the oil’s SAE rating. This technology helps protect your engine by using a normal start up viscosity with an oil that has a higher operating temperature viscosity. This improves engine oil film strength, lowering frictional heat whilst providing an extra layer of anti wear protection over standard SAE grade oils, reducing engine wear in all driving conditions.

Aston Martin AMV8 arriving at Bridge Classic Cars

This morning we took delivery of our beautiful 1978 Aston Martin AMV8. And, of course, as you’d expect the heaven’s decide to open up just as Chris set off from the other side of Ipswich to bring her to us.

A few remedial jobs to do on the car to get her ready for the summer.

Coming in next week – 1978 Aston Martin AMV8

Coming in to Bridge Classic Cars next week is a 1978 Aston Martin AMV8 Mk 4 saloon.

Having recently undergone a full gearbox rebuild the customer would like a number of remedial jobs to be carried out to get her ready for the Spring/Summer show season.

Looking stunning at Ipswich waterfront…