Project #3...Oh no, not another Nissan Figaro!!!!!!

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Got the first round on wire wheel work done on the underside...usually takes a couple of rounds but I need to see where the problems are at the rear. Floors are now looking good and most of the structural bits on the rear are sound...the end of the drivers side chassis rail is a bit of a tea bag but I already knew about that so no real surprises. The chassis leg rot was caused by a previous chassis repair...if only they'd have added some rust proofing after they pulled it out

Attention will now be on the rear end...the spare wheel well has quite a bit of "MOT standard" patch repairing which makes doing it properly all the more difficult! I'm going it see if I can find a better boot floor which will save some time but chances are slim I feel as they all rot in the same places from what I can tell.

"luckily" the floor patch was just tacked in and covered in filler so hopefully should be simple to get out.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Got most of the floors welded up on the drivers side...wish I could say it was easy! I ended up going over a lot of the welds...just want it nice and strong. Tiny bit on the rear arch can't be finished until I've repaired the inner arch.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

...and also the passenger side (forgot the before pics). The floor/sill repair is the most difficult bit I think...all butt welded 0.8mm...thats a lot of fun! I've mostly stuck to the "original design"....so for example if there is a repair on an overlapping panel then I've repair as 2 sections. Exception was in the corner...at the rear where there is a seatbelt mount I seam welded along the subframe join just to strengthen it and also try to keep moisture out.

 

[Dan Fallon]

Dropped you a message regarding the bracing you used on your Figaro.

Great work btw!

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Hey Dan...welcome to the forum . I'm away from home this week but will have a look to see if I'm done with the jig. Pretty sure I'm done as I only needed it for the floor/sill repairs. I put my doors back on for a test fit and they fit great so definitely works.

Am sure we can come up with a deal...for example I can loan it to you in return for you posting your project pics. Then when you're done you can give it back or loan it to someone else etc etc . I made it out of scrap bits so I only have time in it no money.

@Wozzaaah ...could we remove Dan's personal email please...I'll drop him a PM later in the week when I'm home.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Managed a bit of time on the Figaro this morning before the heat set in...can't believe it's been 3 months since I've been down there! I've been rammed with work and other stuff so the project has taken a bit of a back seat....but it's given me plenty of time to think about how to get the rear end aligned.

First job was to hack off the chassis rail ends....these are filler pieces which convert the standard Nissan Micra chassis to take the Figaro body....and boy are they thin. I doubt they were even 1mm thick...then I did 2 cuts to separate the floor from the rear quarters so it'll be a bit easier to move around (I already know the floor is out).

I was told by the previous owner that the car had been tapped up the rear and insurance repaired...if only they'd done some rust proofing after they pulled everything straight...and when I say "straight" I mean "sort of straight"

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Dunno if it's me but I'm sure that it's got more rust in the last 3 months!.

Next job was fitting the boot brace I made for the last project. I know the boot on that car fit perfect so I'm using the brace as a rough guide.

I used a trolley jack to lift the floor (this is after some lifting!)...seems something is a little out. With the end chassis rails removed it's easy enough to move the rear floor around which is why I pulled the rails off.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Next job is "first fix" of the boot lids...it doesn't look too bad in this picture but in reality it's all over the place.

I had a lot of practise at panel alignment when I straightened the front of my MR2 so reckon it's doable with some time and effort. Before I go any further however I'll dig out all the locks and rubbers and get them fitted as they will affect how the boots sit. Going into the loft will have to wait till the morning...London is baking hot this weekend.

I've been trying for months to find a good rear end that I could use as a donor for parts....they just don't seem to exist so unfortunately I'm stuck with fixing what I have in hand.

The original green boot panels for the car are also in the loft...I may dig them out to see if they're a better fit. From what I see the panel between the two boots is all the wrong shape (likely caused by the original accident). I spotted this when I bought the car and I remember managing to buy a new panel...but where it is...who knows...

What I have here is a 3 dimensional jigsaw...what I need to do is work out which bits need to move in order to align everything. Where the top boot panel meets the roof cannot be moved so I'll start there and work towards the rear I think as I can move anything rear of that point as needed to get a good fit.

 

[Domdom]

I had similar jigsaw issues with the Sierra front end. It fits in the end.

Mrs DomDom has just sent me an ad for a pink Figaro, Says it's cute. Hmmm, cute maybe, but based on your adventures I would guess it also has rust issues. 8 grand as well.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

I would guess it also has rust issues. 8 grand as well.

I think it's hard to find a rust free original Figaro these days...pink wasn't a standard colour so thats been resprayed at some point. You can tell if its a poor job because the engine bay and all the door shuts will have been left in the original colour!

Yea it's the usual jigsaw...to be honest I quite like this sort of stuff as it requires a fair bit of thinking and tweaking. Once I have it aligned I'll pull it all apart and get the rear welded up so ti matches up.

Probably going to have to make a new chassis leg...but thats part of the fun of this sort of project....just wish I had more time to get it done quicker!

 

[Nick DV]

Mrs DomDom has just sent me an ad for a pink Figaro, Says it's cute. Hmmm, cute maybe, but based on your adventures I would guess it also has rust issues. 8 grand as well.

Hope it's not the pink one that lived near me - looked great from a distance but was a complete rust bucket!

 

[Domdom]

Hope it's not the pink one that lived near me - looked great from a distance but was a complete rust bucket!

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[Nick DV]

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I'm way down south so no idea if this is the one, but it looked 'pretty' like this one does - from a distance that is!

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Sadly it looks like I'm going to have to abandon my Figaro project....been run off my feet last year with a house renovation plus work. Final straw was I'm losing some of my storage...so having to make a choice between finishing this one or doing another (easier) car that I have....but I need to clear my garage to do it!

It's a bit annoying because I've put quite a bit of work into it...but the rear boot area still needs a huge amount of work and I'm a bit cornered for time and space unfortunately .

I tried to find a good rear end to help but all the ones I've seen required a lot of work too.

 

[Cobbler]

That a pity, as you say, there’s a lot of work gone into it. What will you do with it?

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

What will you do with it?

I think the worst case is sell the bits (luckily it's mostly stripped already) and scrap the shell unfortunately. It's irritating because the hardest part to fix on these is the floors and that bit has been done.

The rear end is a big job....really I needed a rear end cut from another car otherwise it's a lot of fabrication work.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

The Figaro got a temporary reprieve!...I had the saw in my hand but just couldn't bring myself to cut it into pieces.

Plan B is to get the boot welded up and then maybe sell the shell as a fully welded shell for someone to do a shell swap.

With the help of MrC I got the rear panels fitted out...we built a simple jig in the boot to hold things in place. The boot floor needs quite a lot of work (previous bump knocked things out of line) so I need to be able to remove the light panels to work on the floors without everything falling apart.

If anyone passes this way doing a similar restoration...the rear light panels were sourced from GarageFK10. They're the only place I've ever seen doing them (not cheap but they are genuine panels)! They're really helpful people too...they're loaning me a roof seal so I can get the fit out done.

I lost my original roof seal...I spent 2 days looking but no joy yet.

Still needs some work on the gaps etc but I'd say it's 95% there or there about and certainly good enough for me to do the floor repairs....the floor behind the light panels will need rebuilding so it's important to get the panels fitting nice and then remove each one and fix the floor. The rear end is like a 3d jigsaw...the experience from fixing my bent MR2 a few years back came in very handy indeed today.

The reason for using the new panels...this car had a rear end bump. When I got it the top boot lid didn't sit right (I knew about the repair before I bought it). After some measuring it became clear that the passenger side light panel was the wrong shape....reckon it got bent out of shape when they straightened it maybe.

 

[Erie Fred]

Plastic filler it up, sand it smooth.
Wax it and pull a fiberglass mold off of it.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

To the untrained eye this just looks like the same pic from a different angle! Taken the best part of 2 days but I'm mostly happy with all the gaps and fitment. Can finally start on repairing the floors....the rear end was quite a way out so it's taken quite a bit of tweaking. The handle is my trolley jack...had to remove the rear chassis legs and jack up the boot...I'd say 15mm-20mm movement to get it sitting right.

Looking at the very first pic I posted (page1)....really shows how bad the fit was. This was an insurance repair after a rear bump...I don't think I'd have accepted it the way it was!

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Luckily I had a car I could measure the gaps from...rear end on this one was very straight (unlike the front end!)