00:00 00;01;10;12 00;01;12;12 Master craftsman Lance McCormack owns
00:02 one of Britain's best classic car restoration businesses, Romance of Rust. Helping him manage
00:08 it is his son Merlin, the cutting edge salesman, who also runs his own classic car dealership.
00:14 Together they turn rust to riches.
00:17 00;01;12;12 00;01;24;12 Today Lance and Merlin look at two Aston
00:20 Martins in very different conditions, demonstrating the extremes of work they do, from tweaks
00:26 and tune ups to full rebuilds. And this first project will test Lance's skill as one of
00:32 the country's leading metalwork experts.
00:34 00;01;24;12 00;01;35;12 What we've got here is an Aston
00:36 Martin DB4, or at least the platform chassis and the superstructure of one. We've removed
00:41 all the aluminium panels. We're going to be creating a Zagato replica. What you've got
00:46 here is, along with the roofline, is possibly the only identifiable piece. This is where
00:52 the grill would be, the DB4 grill, in here. And you can see the classic Aston shape. All
00:58 steel and it's called a platform chassis. So it's all folded box section and that's
01:03 for lightness. Everything about this was lightness, lightness. Launched in about 1958, '59, the
01:11 DB4 was an instant success. It went through various guises, you know, series, one, two,
01:18 three, four, five. Then the five came out, which we know as the James Bond car. But this
01:22 is where it all came from. And in fact, like this, there's very little to tell between
01:26 that. It's only the outer panels that really gave it the James Bond shape, you know, that
01:32 we know and love.
01:33 00;02;00;00 00;02;10;00 Zagato were quite a flamboyant coachbuilders,
01:37 very notable for making beautiful cars. And the DB4 Zagato was sanctioned by Aston Martin,
01:44 who sent them these type of bodies and they converted them and put beautiful sculptural
01:50 bodies on them. They clothed them in aluminium, you know, even more flamboyant than this car
01:56 was. Those cars are worth about five million. Our one finished would be just over a million
02:01 pounds, but it'd be a faithful replica of a Zagato. You know, I've even got the engine
02:06 being built by Aston Martin, cost of a hundred thousand. And it would have GT twin plug head.
02:11 So once I've completed the Zagato conversion, it will be unrecognisable.
02:16 As exciting as the conversion process is, Lance has a lot of work ahead of him.
02:20 Now I do the metal work, the panel work. A friend of mine supplies me with the aluminium
02:25 skins in a very crude form. That's the outer panels. I have to be responsible for the augmentation
02:31 of this body, the closing up of the wheelbase by five inches. So we're about to make a fixture
02:36 that allows for that to be measured once we put the cuts in exactly the right place. These
02:41 here, this is like the rib cage. This is a sill section that would all come off and be
02:45 replaced with a metal, of course. It's not going to be like an absolute facsimile. That's
02:49 not the requirement of the customer. I mean, the rear axle would look correct from underneath,
02:53 but we'll house a DB7 axle, a better axle. There'll be improvements along the way, but
02:58 essentially the silhouette, the general feel, the ride will be a bit better because obviously
03:03 we progressed a bit on suspension technology. So there's a year and a half's work here for
03:07 me. Not solid year and a half, but this will be my friend, enemy, confidant for about a
03:13 year and a half.
03:14 Outside, Lance joins Merlin to take a look at a rare Aston Martin in much more recognisable
03:19 condition.
03:21 This one's special. So this is an '89 V8 Vantage X-Pack, 580X. There's only a few under the
03:28 mate.
03:29 How many miles has this done?
03:30 This done 30,000 miles from you.
03:32 30,000, eh? And that colour?
03:35 If this wasn't an X-Pack, we'd be looking at a value of about 90,000 to 100,000. But
03:39 in its current state as an X-Pack, 240,000, 250,000.
03:45 Pop the bonnet and see if there's something gone wrong with the actual linkage itself,
03:48 yeah?
03:49 But despite its low mileage, the car is experiencing engine trouble.
03:56 Something idles, it's showing that not all is wrong. If there's something seriously wrong,
04:02 you won't get it idling. Idling is a delicate little phase, but on the acceleration there,
04:06 it could be that the points have just closed up, it's simple as that. Or it could be a
04:12 diaphragm has gone and the fuel pump or the carburettor. But what we do with that, because
04:16 I go as far as I can with looking, and if it's something I can manually do, but what
04:21 we tend to do at this stage is give it to our rolling road man, who is computer diagnostics.
04:25 He sticks probes up the exhaust and like sensors on the engine and the computers don't lie.
04:32 Generally speaking.
04:33 I don't think his screwdriver is going to cure that.
04:43 It's not terminally ill, but it needs diagnostics. Wednesday, she will dance again.
04:49 Next time on Rust to Riches.
04:51 This is a genuine 396 SS, of which there really are only a handful in the country.
04:56 (upbeat music)
04:58 (upbeat music)
