A Little Bit of History
The car was purchased on the 20th of April, 2009 and had 69,000 miles on the clock. The original car had been purchased from new and had been dry-stored for 10 years from 1999.
Pugsley & Lewis were commissioned to rebuild and upgrade the gearbox for the V8 in September 2011.
In June 2012, they restored sills, outriggers, jacking points on both sides and wax-oiled box sections.
The Challenge
The car still had original type brake discs and calipers that were fitted when the car was new. When Geoff purchased the car in 2009 he fitted new pads front and rear. The pads were purchased from Pugsley & Lewis. However, the car still had the problem that V8's suffer from; the cars are quite heavy and the brakes are really not good enough by today's standards.
As Geoff commented, "This made the car drivable and good for slowing down but no other Aston drivers liked me following them as the brakes used to get hot and fade!"
The big decider came out of their frequent European driving trips. The situation with the brakes made an upgrade imperative in both Geoff and Jane’s eyes. All the "oomph" required to get anything from the brakes meant Jane found it increasingly difficult to drive the car with anything like her usual spirit!
Moving Forward
After seeing and driving Martin Pugsley's V8 in 2017 which was fitted with the front brake upgrade kit, Geoff was amazed to discover the transformation it made to braking performance. In essence, the V8 brake upgrade brings braking performance to today's standard. In May 2018 Geoff asked Pugsley & Lewis to fit the same V8 brake upgrade to his front brakes.
Pugsley & Lewis fitted their AP Brake Kit to the car which replaced the front brake discs, bells and calipers with new pads, made from modern brake pad material, and stainless steel brake hoses. This brake pad material works from cold and also when hot after heavy braking and has better quality brake discs that do not warp when the brakes get hot. Incidentally, all this also makes for a shorter pedal that gives the driver more confidence.
A Transformation
We’ll leave the final words to Geoff and Jane!
It has transformed the car. It is now a pleasure to drive knowing that you can stop when you need to. We have started to use the car a lot more and will continue to do so.
The design and workmanship of the brake upgrade kit is excellent. It is worth every bit of the money spent. You can clearly see the cost of the parts used. I am a vehicle technician myself and I can say with certainty that the brake kit upgrade is a real asset to the car.
Last Seen
The car is seen frequently at owners club meetings and of course, the car comes to Pugsley & Lewis for regular servicing, and work when necessary.
