OUR CLASSICS
Richard is still not rolling along with only two wheels on his Aston. But is the finish line in sight?
OWNED SINCE September 2023 MILEAGE SINCE LAST REPORT 146 TOTAL MILEAGE 33,737 LATEST COSTS £3480
1973 ASTON MARTIN V8
M y last report left my latest pride and joy untested after fitting the new fuel pump. The good news is that the Aston burst into life and performed flawlessly on its drive back from the bodyshop once the doors had been re-fitted and aligned after the hinges had been re-built. The fast idle from cold is now behaving perfectly and at last I’m getting to experience this pretty GT’s brute power.
But there are still minor niggles to contend with. I had to replace the battery – again! – and fit yet another speedo cable, which meant taking the dash off. A really annoying intermittent rattle was traced to somewhere behind the trim above the driver’s right knee – something was making contact with one of the speakers, it transpired. Coming soon: replacing the screenwasher pump, fitting Cibié Oscar spotlamps and a new flasher unit, replacing the fuel level sender, finding and fitting a new passenger-side door handle, replacing the offside air intake trunking and finally changing the oil, plugs, fuel and air filters again.
The car came with a lovely set of period 16-inch split-rim wheels shod with almost-new Michelin tyres when I bought it. Only an idiot would want to change them. Step forward that idiot. Once I got it into my head that it should have the original-type 15- inch GKN wheels, I just couldn’t let it go. Keith at Classicmobilia in Milton Keynes sold me a set that had been crack-tested but needed refurbishment so I swapped some of my dwindling supply of cash for the rims and took them to The Wheel Guys in Bedford who did a great job of making them like new again.
I then called Falken to ask about their sticky yet period-style ZE310 Ecorun tyres; slightly lower profile than back in the ’70s but much more practical than many 70-profile tyres, which are primarily intended for vans. As soon as a full set became available I snapped them up and took my shiny new rims to ProTyre in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire to have them fitted. That done, I bundled them into the Range Rover and took them to Nathan at independent specialist Phoenix AM in Hampshire. The phone rang the following morning; it was Nathan, informing me that my car’s front brakes had been uprated with more powerful Wilwood calipers and slightly bigger discs that were just big enough to prevent the 15-inch wheels from going on. A sensible man would have sold the wheels and tyres and moved on; only a fo
