Rust – Where’s Rusty?

My intention was to title this article ‘What lies beneath?’ Until our friends at The Figaro Shop published their own ‘Rust Focussed’ online blog (definitely worth checking out) using the same title!! (Cheers, Toby!!) Read now

Staying with my intended title for the moment. Whilst you may be aware of the film of the same name from the year 2000, directed by Robert Zemeckis, and starring Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer, my story is purely focused on ‘Fergus’, my Emerald Green Figaro, and is written very much from an owner’s perspective.

However, my story echoes many reviews of the film, such as ‘Thrilling’, ‘Sinister’ and ‘Haunting’!!!

As some of you may know, I imported ‘Fergus’ in 2010/2011 from Japan, so I have been his proud custodian for over 14 years. Over this time, I have experienced many of the ‘Thrilling’ aspects of Figaro ownership, Car Shows, Club Rallies, and not least, wonderful, enduring friendships. Some of my ‘thrills’ have been the (at least) 9 or 10 MOTS showing NO advisories and, possibly, these lulled me into something of a false sense of security. I have attached to the article several ‘before’, ‘during’ and (hopefully) ‘after’ photos. I say ‘hopefully’ as at the time of writing, with the newsletter deadline approaching, ‘Fergus’ is still receiving ‘treatment’!

My reality hit (and the ‘Sinister’ aspect mentioned above), whilst Fergus was getting a brake overhaul. The chap doing the job mentioned that one of the outer sills was ‘a bit soft’, so I decided to get him checked out. The mechanic/welder, who had worked on Figaros before, was quite local to me, and he had a look and said the passenger side outer sill needed to be replaced, and after a quick check, the same was confirmed for the driver’s side. A quote was provided, and, whilst not cheap, I always break down my Figaro Ownership costs by the number of years I’ve owned the car and, divided by 14, it didn’t seem QUITE as bad!

The garage was busy (always a good sign, I think!), so work couldn’t commence till early February. A failed MOT followed in December, and then a SORN declaration when the vehicle Tax was due in January. After work commenced, I received a (slightly daunting) call from the mechanic saying that after he had cut away the outer sills, the inner ones were, in his words, ‘pretty shot too’!! My initial reaction was to simply ask, ‘Can he be saved?’, to which he replied, ‘Of course!’

In addition, he found a couple of ‘surprises’ in the passenger footwell and around the rear seatbelt anchorages, which have now also been dealt with. I also asked for a couple of ‘self-inflicted’ scrapes/dents to be sorted. The revised quote did, roughly, double the cost, but, in my view, entirely worth it to save ‘Fergus’.

I will be excited to get him back, hopefully in a week or two, not just to have him home, but also with the knowledge that he will be solid underneath and well undersealed/WaxOyled!

Hopefully ready for many, many more years of Figaro Fun!! The main point of my writing this is to emphasise just how hidden rust can be. I’m no MOT expert, however, my understanding is that if rust issues don’t impact the structural integrity/safety of the vehicle, they probably won’t be highlighted at MOT time. So, it’s essential to get regular, thorough checks undertaken. If you have what may be described as ‘surface rust’ around the sills or wheel arches, you will (more than likely) have some more serious stuff going on ‘Beneath’! I’m pretty sure the majority of my rust issues have stemmed from Fergus’s 14 years on UK (West of Scotland) roads. I freely admit I was a bit blasé and certainly didn’t undertake frequent enough checks or renew underseal and other protections regularly enough. Have a look at the photos (some of which certainly fit the ‘Haunting’ image mentioned above!) I had no idea how bad things had got and happily accepted the comments from folk at car shows – as recently as last summer – like ‘What a beautiful example’, and ‘You certainly take great care of the car’!!!

The finished car

Fergus was painted, and all the trim and body parts reinstalled. I am thrilled with the finished article and cannot wait to enjoy the summer and future events.

So, in conclusion – get regular serious checks done and if you don’t ‘Find Rusty’ then that’s wonderful, but if you do, hopefully you’ve found him early enough to save your Figaro!!

I love showing off Fergus and taking the car to as many car shows and events as I can

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