Wow...prior owner did nothing but drive...great job doing one step at a time...

Change every liquid as probably never saw any TLC...

Maybe Rich will feel bad for you and give you a discount on parts...Good Luck.

 

Already have a bunch of stuff on order!
And, funny enough, I'll be in Niagara in August and can delivery any follow-on supplies as needed

 

So here in Niagara we've been having a lot of rain and heavy downpours over the past week. Sunday and Monday were no exception, so I came home to a flooded driveway and later water in the basement. Luckily the basement is unfinished so no real damage there.
After supper I head outside with plans to play around with aftermarket Bluetooth in the Vantage. When I opened the gate, all a sudden, I was at the scene of an accident and saw this:




I guess things had been going too smoothly on the build and the gods put my ego in check. My apologies go out to my wife who was trying to help and be supportive but my bad mood upset her as I was pissed off in the moment.

After assessing the situation, I carefully jacked front left of car away from fence post adding paper to prevent further damage. Then I raised rear of car and put tires on. Next a front right wheel installed. Last, I was able to back up a couple inches with wheel fully turned to get the clearance I needed to install a front drivers side wheel.


So the lesson learned is to only raise one end of the car at a time and use car ramps or plywood under the jacks to avoid another act of god. Trying to reflect using the glass half full approach - yes no one was hurt, damage was minimal and easily fixed. Luckily there was no damage at all under the car just a crack in the fiberglass fender and a paint chip. It's just frustrating that the car was rock solid for 2 weeks on those stands and this is the first time in my life this has happened to me (on this car instead of any other I've owned).



With rain in the forecast everyday for the rest of the week, I'm definitely a little gun-shy so will be working on stuff with all four wheels on the ground.

This build thread is a reality show, so nothing is sugar coated in hopes it helps others from making the same error(s) I did. Therefore I feel it's my duty to provide the pics below no matter how embarrassing. I just wish my "accident" would have come from doing something cool, like "a little off" at the racetrack. On second thought, I probably couldn't afford to fix that much damage versus doing a little fiberglass work myself

Almost lost the back end too as a result of the front going and the soft ground. It was the asphalt under the gravel that sank in the flood.
Insert explicit here "...."


The tricky part was using the required patience and strategy to not do any further damage during the recovery.
You can see here where the fender bowed out below the headlight due to pressure on the fender lip - luckily no damage to light cluster as I am now fully aware of how much they cost:




Fence post didn't give much - to rub salt in the wound my neighbour installed this fence so his kids "wouldn't accidentally damage my nice cars"...
The crack is under the clear bra that probably helped as it slid into and down the wet fence board.


Ironically, my insurance slip arrived in the mail the same day, but I always avoid making any insurance claims unless something big happens.
I have a $1,000 deductible to remind me to fix minor issues myself.
So there you have it, no need for a pity party, it's time to move on as there's still lots to do and more build progress to report very soon. As many of you know sometimes issues become a future catalyst for improvement or upgrades.

 

Holy crap that sucks. Hopefully it'll won't be too difficult to recover from it.

 

That sucks; (sh)it happens. At least you weren't under the car!

 

That sucks big time. I guess this were a garage comes into play.
Ron

 

Yeah, good thing you weren't under it. Maybe you should invest in a QuickJack, it has a larger surface on the ground compare to jack stands but quite a bit more expensive...

 

Sorry to see that ;/

Not reporting that "accident" to the insurance will also save you 20% in damage depreciation when it's on your carfax report.

I've never thought jackstands on gravel was a good idea. Put them on plywood to spread the load better.

 

Thanks guys for your support and tips, much appreciated!
Yes a new home (with garage) is in my 2018 plan and I will definitely take extra precaution in the meantime...

One of the things on my list was just addressed after reading in the owners manual that there are 3 of them!
Time for the fuse boxes audit since it's a used car. Why they used both regular and mini fuses baffles me. Actually I was happy they weren't mini until I found the cabin fuse box
I wanted to audit / test / verify that each fuse is not missing (including spares), is working /not blown, is of the the correct amp value and (because I'm **** that way) all oriented in the same direction.
Unsurprisingly, there were lots of corrections to be made and each category was represented. Here are the pics:

Bonnet fuse box:


Cabin fuse box:


Boot fuse box:


Aston Martin stickers fall off everything pretty much everything I remove so I've been taping the part number stickers back where I found them:






One mod I made was making it easy to swap fuse 22 with a spare slot anytime I pull over (without tools) depending on my mood. Spare slot is plastic only easily grabbed with your fingers or the fuse tool that happens to fit in the box:


If anyone knows what doesn't look stock in here, please point it out as I will likely tidy it up or remove altogether:


If I inspire one person to audit their fuse box, this post is worth it to me

 

Did someone wire a relay and fuse for fuse 22? Maybe a remote toggle?

 

That would be nice - I'll check it out but I suspect the relay is for the aftermarket Bluetooth phone system with windshield paging system.
Another thing I haven't got around to researching is what recall FSA 163 was done in 2008. I'm guessing someone knows off the top of their head:

 

FSA 163 - Fuel Filler Cap Service Kit

Early gas caps were prone to leaking, which would cause an emissions warning light. This recall was to fix that.

 

I think it would be a good idea to see if you can get print outs of the service history from your local dealer. They can print out your build sheet as well. Your car will be like new in no time.
Ron

 

Thanks guys for advising the newbie!

To put things in perspective, I'm still at the stage testing for stuff like this evenings brain-fart..."oh crap, I can't believe I haven't yet checked to see if the new clubs fit!"

Ah, calm blue ocean

 

nice, love it...