Upgrades & Enhancements

Over the years with the classic Aston Martin evolving into the modern world, development & enhancements are part of our everyday lives. Here at Quantum Works we strive to keep the integrity & originality of the brand intact.

Air Conditioning

DB/4/5/6 & DBS 6cyl

With the temperatures in the summer months year on year getting hotter, it can make driving a classic car a challenge. Our Air conditioning system can keep you cool & enhance the pleasure of driving your classic Aston Martin.

We have spent many years developing a kit that “actually” works efficiently to keep you cool, unlike the many other systems available. We strive to hide all aspects of our system keeping the integrity & originality of the vehicle.

Aston Martin V8’s were generally fitted with air conditioning, but these can become less efficient with age. We can help with bringing these back up to an excellent working standard.

Electric Power Assisted Steering (EPAS)

DB2/4, MK3

DB4/5/6 & DBS 6cyl

EPAS is an amazing enhancement to your classic Aston Martin with the GPS monitoring your speed to adjust load to the steering giving you confidence and driveability. There are five personal settings that lets you refine your EPAS to your driving style.

With vehicles already fitted with hydraulic PAS this is still a great option as EPAS have no maintenance costs, less strain on your engine and leak free.

USB Charger

In car charging for phones & accessories are now the norm in all vehicles.

USB chargers are easily hidden within the cabin of DB’S, V8’S and other models.

Heat and Sound Proofing

Once all the interior and carpets have been removed, we first lay a sound proofing material which will cancel out any road noise (very beneficial especially on long journeys). We then lay the heat proof material which also acts as a soft underlay for the carpets getting rid of all the old traditional mohair underlay. This is now standard procedure on our full restorations.

Sound and Heat Deadening for Aston Martin

Aluminium Radiators and
Electric Fans

Aluminium radiators and electric fans are a must have for your car. They are much more efficient than the old copper core original type and are fabricated to look identical so you would never know. We can also integrate an automatically operated electric fan that will cut in and out when needed. So if you’re sitting in traffic on a hot day, rest assured your engine will not overheat.

We can supply and fit aluminium radiators for the following cars:

DB2/4 & MK3
DB4/5/6
DBS 1967/72
V8 1969/89
Virage
DB7 i6/vantage
Vantage
DB9

Aluminium Radiators and
Electric Fans for Aston Martin

Brake Upgrades

The brakes on your Aston Martin need to work and work well. The original braking systems are good but we can make them better.

Starting with DB4s, Aston Martins came with Dunlop 2 pot front callipers, which are not great and tend to squeal. We recommend changing them for an uprated 4 pot coopercraft calliper that fits perfectly behind the spoked wheel and gives much improved braking.

The DB5/6 and DBS 6cyl have Girling brake callipers from standard that work well however we recommend fitting uprated bigger boost brake servos. They really give you confidence when braking and give a nicer brake pedal feel.

The V8 is a big and heavy car and to slow it down you need brakes that are up to the job. This is where our kit really improves the brake efficiency and gives you the confidence you need. We can install bigger front discs and calliper kits, a larger brake master cylinder kit and bigger boost brake servos. This is an upgrade that we really do think enhances the V8.

Gearboxes

We can offer a wide range of gearbox upgrades/enhancements to suit your needs.

For your DB4/5/6 & DBS 6 cly there are a few different options. For the DB4 with its 4 speed gearbox, we can add an overdrive unit so that motorway driving is more desirable along with better fuel efficiency or the 5 speed manual Tremec gearbox.

For a DB5/6 & DBS 6 cly we can install a 5 speed manual Tremec gearbox. Getting rid of that extremely slow automatic gearbox the 5 speed manual will release the power, making it a more enjoyable car to drive. The 5 speed Tremec also has very nice short gates between the gears making it a nicer and sharper gear change over the original ZF manual gearbox. It also performs perfectly from cold, whereas with the ZF gearbox it can be very hard to get into gears especially going from first to second gear when it’s cold.

The V8 also has quite a few upgrades/enhancements that we can carry out, the first being a 5 & 6 speed Manual gearbox conversion. Removing the original 3 speed automatic gearbox will release so much more power from the engine.

However, for customers who like to have an automatic gearbox, we have two options for you. If you want to stick with the 3 speed auto we recommend fitting a larger aluminium gearbox sump. This has a few advantages:

Firstly it means that the gearbox can hold more oil which helps the gearbox oil from getting too hot. Signs of this are when the gears begin starting to hold out for too long a period and don't change gear smoothly. Secondly the 3 speed gearbox sump is notorious for leaking. The aluminium sump cures this.
The second option is for a 6 speed automatic gearbox. This is much improved from the standard 3 speed and much more fuel efficient especially on the motorway when your eating up the miles.

Handling Kits

We can supply and fit your car with a selection of handling enhancements, starting with bigger front anti-roll bars for DB’s and V8’s. They will reduce the body roll during cornering, improving the dynamics of the car and how it holds the road, giving you more feel and control without making the suspension's springs stiffer so that the ride quality is not compromised.

Another popular upgrade is the Telescopic adjustable rear shock absorbers for DB4/5/6/DBS & early AMV8s. This kit gets rid of the lever arm shock absorbers and drop links, giving improved ride comfort and at the same time improving the handling.

A good enhancement to not only the handling but also the looks of the modern era Vantage is the fitment of wheel spacers. Adding 11mm front and 23mm rear spacers will give you more track width and they also make the wheels sit perfectly in the wheel arch.

Exhausts

The exhaust note is one of the most predominant aspects of any Aston, classic and modern, however there are some enhancements that we can make.

Beginning with the DB4/5/6 & DBS 6 cyl Aston Martins were fitted with cast iron exhaust manifolds with a glass coating. The problem is that they can quite easily crack and the glass coating does not last. We can repair your exhaust manifolds and then have them aluminium spray-coated in white. We also can supply stainless steel exhaust manifolds which turn into a lovely gold colour after a few heat cycles.

On the V8 we can also have your original manifolds heat treated if they are in good enough condition however it seems to be a popular choice to go with the stainless steel manifolds. Another must-have for the V8 is to get rid of the two rear exhaust silencers and fit straight through pipes. This really crispens up the exhaust note but at the same time is not discomforting when driving along the motorway. We can also supply complete stainless steel systems for DB’s & V8’s.

For the more modern era of cars we can also supply you with Stainless steel exhaust systems including de cats and back boxes. A common fault with the Vantages and Db9s are that the exhaust flaps seize up in the back box. A main dealer cannot repair this and will charge you for a new back box at great expense, whereas we can repair them at a fraction of the cost.