LagondaNet

[Mitrovic]

Francis

At least that are good news that you have been able to find the parts ( or the car ) needed! Hope everything will go smoothly!

Zoran

[dyeger]

What happened is obvious. I took 13212 out for the first time in six months on Wednesday.

I went to put my foot on the brake and hit the gas.

I was not used to the closeness of the pedals.

Since there is no brake/shift lock it's more than likely that this is what the mechanic did.

I hope everything turns out OK.

I am sooooo sorry this happened.

[blacky]

Bill,

I strongly confirm what you have said. The pedal layout of the left hand drive Lagonda is very very peculiar. The pedals are located much too far to the left and too close to each other. It took me 1 year to get somewhat used to it. I also drive my car in "two foot" regime: right for gas, left for brake. I have trained myself to drive this way, because it is the only way for me to feel safe. Same if you drive a racing cart.

As an engineer, I have to say that it is very poor piece of engineering by Aston Martin, not to have thought earlier about the left hand drive version, using such a huge gearbox tunnel which might be OK for RHD versions but not for LHD versions.

Today, such bad engineering is not common any more, and a (young) mechanic is not to blame about this defect. I think AM and the approval authorities which have accepted such a pedal layout are to blame.

Sieghard.
#13473

[Vrije]

Okay guys so pay attention before takeoff!!

But ever driven a Range rover or Discovery?,Same thing might happen.
Happy cruizing to you all

Harry

[Mitrovic]

Or have you driven any Alfa Romeo or Fiat or a XK 120 or a Citroen C1, C2, C3?

I think it is just getting used to it. if you drive your Lagonda every day you will not have any problems with the pedals. It is like with the reverse gear or with the navigation. It suits you what you are used to.

But let us recapitulate how can this happen? What do you do when starting ( taking off )?

- You put the car in P and start it
- Then you put your foot on the brake - if you would put it on the accelerator pedal you would hear it from the engine.
- You put the car in D or R with the foot on the brake pedal.
- You release the brake pedal and move your foot the the accelerator pedal

So, how does this go wrong?

Zoran

[Francis]

Finally the work on my Alvira may start sometimes next week.

I had to contact my insurance company since AXA, the insurance company of the idiot mechanic would not pay more that $11 800.- for the damage done to her.

They will take care of every thing and sue AXA to get the diffrence to fix the car. Bugatti Auto, the only aluminium body shop qualified to work on an Aston Martin in Montréal will perform the work and they have a preliminary estimate of $35 000.- .

Hopefully, this will be done by the end of August.

Francis,

I still don't know if they will use Bill's car to crop parts. In any event I will take the donner car to upgrade Alvira to a four window (roll down) car. Plus take parts like the windshield wiper motor, the roll down bracket for my passanger door window, etc...



I will keep you all posted.

[Lagondanet]

Francis

Glad to hear that things are progressing with Alvira. Does this mean that she will be ready to come to Europe this August? I very much hope so.

[Mitrovic]

Glad to hear that Alvira will be saved, soon.

Roger you think August 2009?

Let us hope so!

Zoran

[Lagondanet]

2008?

[Francis]

In order to make it for 2008 I would need to ship in one week' time...so Alvira will only be able to make it for 2009.

[Lagondanet]

Sorry Francis my blunder. Wishful thinking on my part. 2009 it is then.

[Francis]

Just came back from the AML body shop here in Montreal and work has begun on Alvira.

She now has a new rear left fender and a new boot lid. The inner metal work is done and it should take an other 2 to 3 weeks to have her back on the road. Next time I visit the shop I will take my camera and show you the progress.

Francis.

[Francis]

Here is a Picasa link to the pictures I made last Friday of the work being done on Alvira.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Francis200261/AlviraBeingFixed#

[Francis]

To keep you posted, yesterday I went to the repair shop and was informed that Alvira had been promoted to the finishing station, so work is now moving to the paint phase of the work.

While I was there I took a rear door panel from Alvira and all the door panels from 13422 along with the inner door handles. I took the wood trim off the door panels and proceded to take the veneer off (since it was all flaky and brittled) and sanded down the remaining under wood structure.

In order to replace the inner door handles and upgrade to the newer chromed model, which was used on earlier AML models from the 1970's, the hole in the wood trim must be enlarged or replaced by using the wood trims from 13422. I chose to use the 13422 wood trim for my upgrade.

The veneer is made of a wood called Ronce de Noyer in French, sorry, I don't know the English translation. Here in Montréal I found a shop that will reinstall the Ronce de Noyer veneer on my wooden planks, the ones with the larger holes for the chromed inner door handles to replace the leather inner door handles that Alvira was born with. I will also take the dash wood trim to give it the same wood veneer treatment in order to make them all match in color and in grain.

Price you may ask? $18 a square foot of installed veneer plus a yet undetermined fee for the lacker to finish it like new.

I think is's quite resonable don't you think?

The replacement of those door handles will require some fiddling of the connecting rods and the boring of new holes for the screws that hold the handle, but nothing very difficult. just some precise hole placement.

I will tackle the rear window replacement just after I finish with the door handle project.

[Francis]

Here are some pictures of the progress on the repair of Alvira:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Francis200261/AlviraNov82008#

She should be ready for Halloween night I was told.