In a previous article I discussed how to remove the chassis stiffening ‘Shear Panel’ from my DB9 (read about it here).   I was removing it to access the exhaust system hidden above it while I was tackling installation of a Secondary Cat Delete kit (read more about that here).  Reinstalling the panel is the last step of the process, and it’s important to get it right so your DB9’s structural rigidity is restored.  Here is how I did it. Continue reading “Installing the Shear Panel in an Aston Martin DB9” →

One of the terrific aspects of any Aston Martin is the handling.  Part of the magic to that is creating a car that is ‘stiff’, meaning that it doesn’t twist and flex during cornering or over bumps.  The DB9 is no exception, and part of that body stiffness is created by a thick aluminum plate underneath the bottom of the car in the center of the vehicle, the “Shear Panel”.   There is nothing fancy to it, it’s just a metal plate bolted up rigidly to the left and right hand sides of the transmission/drive shaft/torque tube tunnel the runs from front to back.  The tunnel itself is a weakness to the car, so the plate bolts across the bottom of the tunnel to make the vehicle stiffer.

Why would you care about this?  You probably wouldn’t unless you need to do some work on the things that are up inside that tunnel, above the Shear Panel.  In particular, the dual exhaust pipes run along there.   For me, I am planning on installing a ‘Secondary Cat Delete Kit’ which is a fancy way of saying removing the two rearmost catalytic converters and replacing them with a straight pipe kit offered from several vendors (more about that in a future article).   Any maintenance to the center portion of the exhaust system will require removal of the Shear Panel.

The good news is that it’s easy enough to remove, and only takes about 10 minutes once you have the car off the ground. Continue reading “Removing the Shear Panel from an Aston Martin DB9” →