I originally was going to hinge the front clip but have decided to anchor the whole piece and cut out the hood. I've already run lines to cut out the hood like the new vanquish.

 

That looks pretty neat. There is a post on ebay. It looks like they worked through the rear wheel well issue. take look at Replica/Kit Makes : Aston Martin Vanquish XK8 in Replica/Kit Makes | eBay Motors
They may be able to offer insight about how they dealt with the rear clip. Keep up the good work I am really looking forward to starting my project.
regards,

Ron

 

Hello
I just bought a nice xk8 that needs a hood, lights and front bumper....
considering the ash mart kit also.
the kit car guys say I may purchase only the front half.
I am okay with some self fabrication for the door- to- front fender transition.
my question is:
do the front tires( wheels) need to be replaced or is the wider stance an option?

 

Hey, Woody. Good to see you're keeping one on the road. You're going to need the whole kit in my opinion. That Ash Mart front clip will fit fine at the top of the door/windshield but it's at least 1/4" wider on the sides (to mate with adding the door skins) and it's tapers out to probably 1/2" wider than the rocker panel/under door.. You could make your front clip only idea work, but most wouldn't... And, my project has probably deferred a few people with some of the issues I've encountered. Still, I soldier on.. Are you dealing with carkitinc company? I'm surprised they'll only sell you the front clip.

You'll definitely need wheel spacers. With the wheels I used (see one of my prior posts for specs), I used 1.3" spacers all around and I consider that perfect. Give me the wheel you want to use and I can do the math for you. Rock on!

 

Thanks for the link, RJ. I'm posting some pics of that car. Once it sells, we may never see pics of it again and some may be interested in some of the "interesting" things that were done to this car..



Semi-gloss black paint job? Hmm....




Different hood cut-out lines.. Pontiac Solstice fog lights used like kit maker recommends (original Vanquish fog lights mount flush/have no recess. Nice extra slats/vents on hood; DBS like.




I like how they did the hood cutout, but gaps are kinda wide for me. Mean looking..




Chrysler Sebring lights (like kit maker recommends). I think I considered this wing as there aren't many options in carbon fiber. Hmm.. too tuner/import for me. If you're gonna wing it, it should look like this:

 

Front seats probably recovered, maybe that explains the abundance of wrinkles?




Peek a boo with the Jaguar symbol. I still see you.. Definitely qualifies for What-not-to-do! DB7 steering wheel should work for this, or at least the center section/air bag part. I've seen DB7 steering wheels go for reasonable prices. $500 cough cough and air bag section for $300 - still coughing.. :P




So, they wanted to cover up the clock with the Jaguar symbol? Good job. Giving the car a partial "race" treatment (including snazzy shifter knob)
- FAIL. That switch panel is just out of place....

Ok, enough bashing. I give them credit. They probably got their kit after me and managed to finish before me. Boo on me

 

I also noticed they did some work to the rear/side windows....

 

Finally got the rear wheel well issue fixed.. I'd lengthened the brackets 1.5" and shifted the IRS rearward. Lowered it almost 2 inches.. On to something else.....







Below is before pic..

 

Great! Glad you got it sorted out.

 

Broke out the headlight lenses and tried to fit them up. Two problems: the fiberglass area where the lenses fit into had several rough spots and the lenses aren't a perfect fit. They're "close" and have an overall good shape just need to be trimmed. So, I commenced to working both the lense and fiberglass... Overlap is very evident from my thumb to the front area.





Headlights.

Here's a pic of the headlights in the Gatling shrouds. The shrouds were blems and cheaper since I'm painting them all black. And, I haven't bit the bug on buying Halos for them yet. H1 style bulbs and don't know if I'm going HID lights either...

 

I guess if they're not going to fit perfectly it's better for them to be slightly larger than slightly smaller than perfect...

 

Such an optimist, Spy.. :P I'm not complaining but I'll definitely deserve an honorary doctorate in body work after this project!

 

I came across an interesting forum that has some buzz about Aston replicas. Most are xk8 based, some are Toyota.. veyrons and ferrari clones too. Some interesting works out there. I chuckled at some of the discussions and how some people are building these replicas for profit. Like asking $35k+ for kit car that will never be worth $10k-15k. Anyway, it's www.madmechanic.com

 

Any progress?

 

Hey, Spy. I've been working some on the project, mostly interior stuff.. Started a project too; designing a heads up display using a laser projector and iPhone - augmented driving app.. Some neat driving apps out there like ionroad that I want projected on te windshield.. Biggest challenge has been the windshield film as it can't be tinted and can only do a 3" strip at the top of the windshield.. Stay tuned, I about have it figured out! Also put out an ad on Craigslist for a body guy to come help with the car.. One clown quoted me $40 an hour not including sanding materials & etc... I was like so how many hours you think it would take and he said 80! Quick math was like, no way should it cost that much... Maybe I'm wrong so I'm gonna continue working... Had the hurricane come through and water flooded up to the garage.. I'd jacked the cars up a couple of feet so no worries.

 

cool about the AP. actually 40 an hour is what I pay in the midwest.
what do you want when your finished? crap? good bodymen are worth the price.
in other news, we repaired the black XK8 in the previous post, and also a saphire blue 05.
we purchased a 1997 for parts ,and have a tranny, bad 4.0 motor and everything rearward of the hood for sale.
see video here

 

$40 an hour sounds great. I think the going rate is a least $60 around here. Not the 80 hours estimate—not so sure. That's a lot of hours. I would think that 20 -30 would do...

 

I can see $1500-1800.. To me, there's some $20 an hour work like the final gluing, fiberglass laying and rough shaping. Things I can do (and I'll continue to do). $40 is for things I can't do, the true artisan stuff like making the tail lights fit and block sanding... Maybe I need educating. Is the $40 rate comparative to say an automotive shop where they charge an hour but doesn't matter if they get the job done in 20 mins or three hours. I'd rather say here's an agreed amount, call me when it's done.

 

Ronnie, i am happy to have found this thread, i can say in all honesty that i only joined because of this thread. i myself have an XKR which was damaged and totaled due to hail. the insurance company gave me the option to "buy back" the car aka keep the car and skip the check and i loved the car so much i had to do it. now i have been sitting with her in the garage for a year and a half. i fire it up every now and then just to hear it run.

Around the time of the hail i was already looking into the ashmart kit, but there were not enough build guides or info to know how legit they were, and the complications of the build process. I can say you have inspired me to move forward, i will be taking this years tax returns in january and ordering a kit.

Few questions i wanted to ask;
1; did you pick up the kit or have it shipped
2; if you had it shipped did you use freightquote like they reccomended or someone else.
3; again if you had it shipped, what did it cost you if i may ask. i am quite a bit further away in montana but i wanted to get an idea.

Thanks for this amazing thread.

 

Hey, Nomad. Thanks for the support... To answer your questions, I used freight quote and the shipping was effortless. Freight quote already had all of the shops info and I got a quote and delivery schedule in 5 mins.. Cost me $450 and I picked up the crate at a distribution center vice delivery to the house. Don't remember how much extra driveway delivery would've cost... The Carkitinc people advertise now that they use a smaller crate. That's great because I swear they put the Ashmart pieces in a huge crate that was probably designed for a whole Lamborghini kit car. I had to strap this thing on top of the railings and it stuck out a lot. I wa nervous driving it through a bridge tunnel but made it ok. Is your xkr a coupe or convertible? .