STEP 4

STEP 5

Set up order

Parts Diagram

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There are two ways to repair a sill on a Figaro: Rust repair can be done on the sills of a Figaro with a relatively cheap ‘quick fix’ by welding over the top, but at The Figaro Shop we do it differently by totally removing all of the rusted metal and replacing the whole sill to make it structurally stronger and last much longer. The sill of the Nissan Figaro not only forms the shape of the vehicle but also plays a large part in the rigidity of the vehicle’s body. Over time, rust can start to corrode the sills causing unsightly bubbling, major paint defects and in the worst of cases, large holes of rust. As the rust sets into the steel of the sill, it can dramatically affect the strength of the body and is therefore an MOT failure on inspection.

These custom-made sill sections are designed to replace your rusty Figaro’s inner sill. Unfortunately with the age of these vehicles rust is becoming a bigger problem. You will find that when the outer sill panels need replacing, the inner sill section will need to be replaced too. The inner sill repair panel has been designed and developed by ourselves and is machine-formed from Zintec steel to ensure every panel is the same and follows the original shape of the Figaro sill which is hard to replicate by hand at 1500mm in length. It makes it possible to repair the inner sill to a high level, We use these in-house to repair customers’ Figaros to a high standard. Please be aware this is not a generic/universal panel.

I decided it would be good for owners to know what went on when their car had this ‘open heart surgery’. Although it’s not the most glamorous diagnosis, there is no denying the fact that most Figgys will suffer from rust at some stage! One of the hardest areas for us to describe, and to warrant the cost of repair, is corrosion. Figaros corrode in 4 common places Sills, Arches, Boot Floor and Roof Corner. Today we will focus on the sills as they are the most common MOT failure we see.

Figaro sills are formed in complicated shapes, the layers of box sections press together in order to create the strongest structural integrity. On convertibles especially this is very important. When an owner comes to us with their cherished Figaro, looking for restoration or paintwork, they nearly always leave with a huge smile, sometimes even tears. That’s a great part of our job. The slightly disappointing thing from our point of view is that with sill corrosion repair the car still looks the same, and runs the same, it may on the surface seem that the MOT and invoice are the main achievements!

So, I hope this article will encourage you to see the beauty in all restoration, even the barely visible parts. With this in mind, I hope to outline what we go through in order to make a sill repair in the correct way. These cases often begin with the Figgy owner bringing their car in for restoration, or perhaps the car is here already having failed an MOT on structural corrosion.

Once we have discovered that the sill is rusted our first task is to remove all the chrome trim; we need access. In severe cases, we also need to remove the door.

Words and Pictures – Alan Sykes

We booked a trip to Luxembourg with 21 other members of the Figaro Owners Club, and over the months leading up to the trip, I carried out a service and every check you could possibly carry out. We set off to our overnight stay in Folkstone from West Yorkshire on Saturday, May the 20^th 2023 then we travelled through France, Belgium and onto our final destination in Vianden, Luxembourg.

It was now Wednesday lunchtime and the garage said they couldn't get a new alternator until Monday so the car would not be available until Tuesday. Because this wasn’t acceptable due to the commitments we had at home, I contacted Maz at the Figaro Shop in the UK, he and his colleagues arranged for an alternator to be delivered to the garage in Belgium (just the other side of the border from Luxembourg) on Thursday by 11 am, obviously, these repair costs were down to us.