1960 Aston Martin DB4 S1 Total restoration

Specification (briefly) for this project is as follows: Total restoration One of 150 right hand drive S1 cars built, of which only 66 survivors are known to the AMOC register.

I was pleased to find a good used timing chain cover to replace the corroded original. My thanks to Nick Candee of Aston Martin of New England for providing that much needed component. Also, as we prepare to get this body restoration underway, I have been toying with the idea of restoring the car in the style of the DB4 GT, complete with enclosed headlamps. More on this later...

Replacement timing cover	Considering restoring in the style of the DB4 GT

My thanks to friend and customer Bill Collings for the use of one of his massive end mills which enabled us to machine out the seized head studs from the DB4 engine. We were finally able to separate the cylinder head from the block. That's the good news. The bad news is that the head has some nasty corrosion damage and it is going to be a huge challenge for us to save it. Fortunately, we like a challenge.

Block and head finally apart	Hole in # 6 combustion chamber

Body now completely stripped...

Andy attacking the roof	Front RH wing is only panel left to be stripped
An interesting collection of rivets	Crude patchwork beneath the bonnet mouth

The DB4 has one of the prettiest profiles in the automotive world	Andy tackles numerous layers of bondo and paint	LH rear wing much better than its RH counterpart
Surprisingly crude factory treatment of the indicator/marker light plinth		Front left wing has seen some pain over the years
		More accident repairs above the front grill

This week I felt an irresistible urge to see some of that beautiful aluminum coachwork that has been hiding for many years beneath countless layers of bondo and paint. Starting with the right hand rear wing, which we knew had seen some pretty crude accident repairs at some time in the past, we broke out the paint stripper and got to work!

 
A little interior work, more R&D for a five speed upgrade....and an absolutely gorgeous aluminium expansion tank!

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Removing the rear seat back
Some of the original 'beige'  leather exposed	Fibreglass rear arm rest
	Some of the original trimmer's  penmanship!	Inner wing exposed
		Suspension bolt revealed
A little digging with the screwdriver reveals more rust	Hand formed expansion tank
One of my favourite possessions!	The 5 speed adaptor plate	3/8" studs will attach to original bellhousing
Bolting the old bellhousing to the new five speed		Checking clutch function
Oodles of room for the action of  the clutch slave		Cylinder head is still putting up a gallant fight....

Unbolting the trans from the engine is straightforward	Clutch slave/fork is exactly the same principle as the E Type	Engine stabilizor bracket removed from lower bellhousing
Interesting 2 piece flywheel	Clutch same as early E type	Ring gear secured to flywheel by clutch pressure plate bolts....
Very light (12.5lb) flywheel assembly	Pilot bearing in crank	Removing the bearing
	Lots of measurements were taken throughout....	Throw out bearing identical to early E Type
	Original bellhousing will be retained with the AM5 transmission	B/housing secured to DB box with  9 x 3/8" studs
With seal retainer removed....	There is lots of room for the new input shaft	An adaptor plate will allow us to bolt the AM5 to the DB b/housing
	Speedo drive assembly almost identical to E Type...	Comparing the two transmissions side by side
		Watch this space....
Ultimately, we will have identical  shifter centre lines and height	All that remains is to manufacture a new input shaft and adaptor plate...

A couple of days ago I decided to remove the dash from the DB4. The task would have been considerably easier had I not come across such a cosmopolitan mixture of screws and bolts of every conceivable size!

The usual caveat applies that most of the following photographs are for my own reference purposes and may not be of much interest to anyone else!

		Engine and trans before steam cleaning
A little more presentable!		Now to the dash....
First I removed the underdash  panels		The radiator shutter chain removed
Heater conrols...	Ref photo
Ref photo	Ref photo
		Controls were easy to remove
	Last of the gauges removed	Wiper motor tucked up behind the LHF of the dash
Ref photo		Time to remove the fascia
	Something special about that grill shaped fascia
	I had to remove the aluminium glove box to get to the last of the bolts holding the dash in place	Heater gubbings dominated the firewall with the dash removed
5 solid hours of work....

As usual, many of the photographs below will probably be of little interest to anyone else as they were taken for my own reference.

	The engine number matches the factory build sheet

Generator looks very similar to those used on 3.8 E Type	Huge factory trans cover	The David Brown 4 speed exposed
	Speedo drive and cable	Trans serial number matches AM build sheet
Unbolting the output flange	Time to disconnect everything attached to the engine	This bracket held the RH cam cover vent tube
Starter also E Type-esque	I removed the shifter because it looks like it will be a tight squeeze on the way out	An encouraging first look at the floors
I am delighted with how solid the main floors appear to be	Seats removed - driver's side was a bitch because someone had previously buggered up the runners and the mounts	Passenger floor
		Seat rail mount will need repair
Handbrake mechanism	Seized nut had to be cut out	Reference photo
LH inner sill looks good		Reference photo
Note how some of the alloy trim is stamped with the chassis number		Are these aluminium panels available new? I hope so...
Rust in the box section of the sill	More rust...	Original beige interior was really quite yellow!
Notice how one headliner was installed directly on top of the original	Ref photo	Ref photo
LH quarter light window removed	Steel screws through aluminium = lots of corrosion	Pillarless lines a nice feature of of S1 cars
		Time to remove the engine and trans
It needs to be at quite an angle to clear the front cowling		Engine bay now almost bare
Head will be easier to remove with engine out of car	A good days work.....

I spent a few more hours in the engine bay today, although I have to admit that the going was a little slower than I would have liked! Most of the following photographs are for my own future reference, although some of them should make wonderful 'before' pictures when the car starts going back together.

In case you were wondering, yes, the cylinder head is still stuck solid...
 

Reference photos left to right #1	#2	#3
#4	#5	Brake booster was my first target today
This nut (marked 'X') difficult to remove	Booster finally removed after much cursing  and a couple of scuffed knuckles	Reference photo for wiring lay-out to fuse boxes
	Fues boxes removed	Firewall caked in some sort of cork insulation
Remote starter came away with a  slab of cork....
The same patch removed from the upper left of the firewall	Note wood backing beneath screen pillar trim	Back of screen pillar still the original beige colour
Everything inside the car is very much 'hand made'	Backing of glove box door fell off when I open it	I

Slowly but surely, I have been stripping out the engine bay. Everywhere I look are signs of very poor workmanship in the past - it really is a crying shame that this great old car has been so badly neglected.

The cylinder head is stuck solid, presumably by virtue of the steel head studs 'welding' themselves to the aluminium head and block, although we should have it loosened up in the next couple of days. What I can see of the engine and cylinder head internals has given me cause for hope that we will be able to save them. Watch this space!

Crudely welded heater box screwed to two blocks of wood??	Timing chain assembly clearly visible with valve covers removed	Mix and match studs and nuts are indicative of poor quality workmanship done in the past
Removing the upper chain cover	Not entirely dissimilar to the venerable XK engine	Soaking the head studs with penatrating oil
We will leave her hanging overnight and see if anything budges!	In due course we will make a new aluminium expansion tank

Today I got to spend a few hours in the engine bay of the Aston - and unfortunately I must report that the day didn't go too well. As you can see from the photographs below, my new parts wish-list is going to include pretty much anything aluminium that ever came into contact with coolant. The waterpump literally fell apart on me when I removed it, as did the thermostat housing, but more worrying still was the state of the front cover - which is corroded beyond repair.

First job is to remove the carbs and intake manifolds	With the carbs removed......	The view inside the head was not very encouraging!
Thermostat housing fell apart		More alloy corrosion
This waterpump neck....	simply fell off!	Front cover is corroded beyond repair
New front cover and water pump required

New high torque gear reduction starter motor.

A thing of beauty...

One of the things I like best about my business is that I get to make (or have made) some seriously cool stuff. The new Aston Martin radiator pictured below really is a thing of beauty. Tipping the scales at just 13lbs and upgraded to handle over 400 HP, it also represents a prodigious performance upgrade over the original.

The restoration gets underway!

Unfortunately, the DB4 has sustained a pretty decent hit in the right front at some time in its past, so it looks as if a new front clip is in the car's future. Really the only decision to be made is whether to buy a nose section (from midway along the wheel arches forward) or a complete assembly (everything from the windscreen forward).

One thing that slowed disassembly at the front of the car today was the fact that (presumably following the front end collision mentioned above) somebody had literally bondoed the right hand headlamp bucket into place. In fact, most of the right front corner of the car has been sculptured from bondo and fibre glass! It took a full hour just to chisel the RH headlamp bucket away from the wing.

The next task will be to pull the engine and transmission, something I hope to find time to do next week.

LH headlamp bucket was simple to remove	RH unit had to be chiseled away from the wing!	A mixture of fiberglass and bondo
Headlamp area was obviously pushed back in collision	Crude factory plate rivetted in place  to hold side and indicator lamps	Data and coachbuilding tags removed for safe keeping
Bonnet held on with 2 simple split pins - 30 seconds to remove	Distributor is date stamped 4/59	We will build an (uprated) aluminium replica of the radiator
Radiator mounting brackets were rotten	HP sapping fan might have to go.....	Note totally corroded water pipe full of powdered lime
Un-Aston-like chicken wire is actually original equipment	Grill is in excellent condition	Although someone thoughtfully braised the mesh to the surround
Unfortunately, the cut might be further back towards the screen!	Screen came out in just a couple of minutes	Note rivets peeping through beneath the edge of the wing
Another view of the corroded water pipe		Note fiberglass and bondo up inside grill opening

Before tearing into the DB4 and reducing it to a very expensive pile of parts, I put it up in the air and took the following photographs showing the rather sorry state of the under carriage. Clearly we have lots of rust repair ahead of us.

 
I have an exciting update for you today! My family back in the UK have been doing some detective work for me and one of the things they did was to place a letter in the Yorkshire Post asking for any information regarding Mr Mainz, the first owner of our DB4. Yesterday, as a result of the insertion in the Yorkshire Post, we received a letter from a Mr Malcolm Holmes stating that he used to work for Mainz & Sons in the early 1960's. Mr Holmes remembered the Aston Martin very well and said he even got to drive it on a number of occasions. Even more encouraging, Mr Holmes was pretty sure that Mr Helmut Mainz was alive and well and living in Harrogate.

Less than 24 hours after hearing from Mr Holmes, we were thrilled to receive the following letter from Mr Helmut Maintz himself.

Subject: Your letter to the Yorkshire Post

Re your letter to the Yorkshire Post and the Telegraph & Argus asking for info about a DB4 Aston Martin car which was sold in 1960 by David Brown of Huddersfield to A Mainz & Son of Bradford of which I was the owner:

Unfortunately the car did not perform to expectations and I did not keep it for long. On the suggestion of David Brown (the then owner of Aston Martin) I drove the car to Posnan in Poland where both David Brown and A Mainz & Son were exhibitors at a trade fair. The car was put on display on the David Brown stand presumably as light relief from the heavy tractors they were famous for.

My return journey from Poland took me via Berlin, Hanover and Hook van Holland. Between Posnan and Berlin the roads were very poor at that time except for the last 20-30 miles into Berlin which had been the prewar AVVS car racing track. Probably to vent my frustration after miles of Polish cobblestones I put my foot down only to be engulfed after very few minutes in clouds of steam from a blown cylinder head gasket.

I had to nurse the car back to Berlin where I was unable to find a replacement and instead had to wait around for several days for the makers to fly out the part. My upset was the greater because David Brown sought to put the blame on me for my failure to fit an "oil cooler" which they recommended to prospective clients who intended to use their cars at high speeds for sustained periods.

I felt that this should have been a standard fitting on such an expensive car and as a result of their nonchalant attitude I sold the car shortly afterwards.

Helmut Mainz

I have written back to Mr Mainz and will keep you posted as further information comes to light!

I am delighted to report that the DB4 is now safe and sound at Classic Jaguar. The car is very much as it was described by the eBay seller, so I could not be more pleased with my purchase. The following photographs are as much for reference purposes as anything else, although some of them may also be of general interest.

I would love to think the indicated mileage of 13,530 is correct, although of course that would seem to be highly unlikely. The glove box contained a handful of invoices dating back to the mid 1970s when a man by the name of Michael A. Waldman of Indianapolis, Indiana owned the car. Are you still out there in the classic car community, Michael? Needless to say, I would love to make contact with Mr. Waldman, assuming he is still alive.

We have learned from Aston Martin Heritage that the number plate (SKY 925) is original to the car, having been issued in Bradford, England in 1959. Incidentally, the car was last registered for the road in Indiana in August, 1976.

CJ Dyno is temporary parking place for DB4
Body built under licence from Touring of Milan	Famous grill	S1 cars had no over riders
Number plate has been with car since new	Doors open very wide	Everything is beautifully trimmed and well finished
Can be restored RHD or LHD	Original trim has been dyed black (originally beige)	Gorgeous steering wheel
Headliner in remarkably good condition	13,530 miles on odometer	Beautiful art deco wheel and horn
Reutter reclining seats still extremely comfortable!	Trademark Aston wing vent	David Brown badges...
Front and rear...	Someone was a little careless at one time!	Hides in good condition, particularly in the rear
Cross hatch aluminium looks same as 63 E Type dash...	Jack in boot	Recliners still work perfectly

The starting point...

As purchased - 1960 Aston Martin DB4. One of only 150 rhd S1 cars built and one of only 66 survivors known to the AMOC register.

Engine repaired under warranty a number of times

I just got off the telephone with an incredibly helpful gentleman at Aston Services in Dorset, England. Armed with the chassis number of our DB4 he immediately located a build sheet for the car which he duly faxed through to me. The build sheet also includes a record of various repairs that were carried out under warranty during the first few months of the car's life. This list makes interesting reading!

• January 6, 1960 - An engineer attended (presumably the selling dealership) and tuned the carbs, adjusted the choke and torqued head nuts found to be loose
• January 12, 1960 - Delivery date/supplied to A. Mainz & Son, Limited, 7 Arundel Street, Bradford, Yorks
• February 8, 1960 - Cylinder head removed, broken inlet tappet cap and outer valve sping replaced, # 3 inlet valve replaced, valves ground and new parts fitted: engine timed: track checked: king pin nuts tightened
• June 22, 1960 - Camshaft covers removed and all auxillaries cylinder head and cylinder head itself removed: all components cleaned off, new gaskets fitted, cylinder head refitted, engine tuned and timed (work carried out in Germany)
• July 7, 1960 - New crankshaft, 6 new rods and all new bearings fitted: block and oil filter drilled out: summer thermostat fitted and thermostat housing opened up: head faced up: one new inlet valve and guide fitted: new set of valve springs and one new tappet fitted: new piston rings, starter rack and clutch plate fitted
• July 7, 1961 - Repairs carried out due to accident, including respray
• November 5, 1961 - Underside of spare wheel carrier sprayed

I suspect Aston Martin were relieved to get this particular car out of warranty!