New Liftgate for the 06 Yaris

[06YarisRS]

A couple years ago, I picked up a used liftgate at a scrapyard. It came off an '08 LE, I believe. The liftgate was spared the ravages of Canadian winters as the car went to the boneyard very early in its life. As such, it is in absolute mint condition from a damage and rust perspective. All the seams and as new as the day it left the factory with no bubbling of the seam sealer. The previous owner must have had the car well rustproofed as there was an oily substance covering the inside of the liftgate and dripping out of the drain holes.

Although the clearcoat is peeling badly, there isn't so much as a scratch in the paint anywhere. It will require a complete deep sanding, epoxy primer, base coat and clear coat. Fortunately, I still have about 1/2 quart of the same base coat I painted the car with, so the match should be perfect. I will have to remove the aftermarket liftgate spoiler from the current liftgate and mount it on the new one. I will paint the items separately though, then reinstall.

Prior to purchase, the liftgate currently on the car had sustained an impact and I repaired it with fiberglass and bondo. It came out alright, but the car, IMO, deserves better. I will look to source a new liftgate gasket too.

I will document the process in this thread.

I started with the backside of the liftgate. I will not bother to paint the inner skin as that will all be covered, of course, with the plastic panel.

Parts and harness removal.

https://i.imgur.com/7ryT4h2.jpg

Degreasing

https://i.imgur.com/9q7iIWc.jpg

Harnesses coming out

https://i.imgur.com/FoZOw47.jpg

Mostly everything removed

https://i.imgur.com/oOLf6kk.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ENUueRI.jpg

Ready for paint. I'll paint this side tomorrow, then prep and paint the other side the following day.

https://i.imgur.com/fKISKph.jpg

[06YarisRS]

Primer

I'm using acrylic lacquer for the inside of the liftgate. It's pretty durable paint, but will be great in this application as it's not exposed to the elements. The outside will be painted with 2K epoxy primer, 2K urethane base coat and 2K urethane clear coat.

Next, scotchbrite the primer I just sprayed, 2 - coats of lacquer base coat and lacquer clear coat.

After this is cured for a day or two, I'll tape up the back with foam and bubble wrap and flip the liftgate. I may actually try to hang it on the wall for painting. When done, I'll install my current lockset tumbler so it will be keyed the same.

https://i.imgur.com/Uq6DwyN.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/baRKmtZ.jpg

[06YarisRS]

Base coat and clearcoat

https://i.imgur.com/zacOKaL.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/F7PNObv.jpg

[06YarisRS]

Sanding, taping and 2K epoxy primer

I used 220 and my orbital sander. I used a relatively coarse grit as I wanted some serious teeth for the primer. I sanded off all the clearcoat and into the basecoat, primer and down to the metal in some spots. The epoxy is probably the best product of holding down all kinds of substrates.

Removing the 3M tape guck was labour intensive, even using paint thinner. A little heat applied and a flat putty knife got the badging off quickly though.

Sanding with 400 or 600, base coat and clearcoat tomorrow, hopefully. Re-assembly and on the car Thursday or Friday in time for a car meet on Saturday.

https://i.imgur.com/0AafVxL.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/HETaSHk.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/9R8w7Wr.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/hPpUe35.jpg

4 coats of epoxy primer

https://i.imgur.com/tWmP4UM.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/2Y8jbmn.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/KQArqJF.jpg

[06YarisRS]

Base and Clear

So, as usual, things rarely go perfectly. I got wee bit of crap in the clear coat but I should be able to wet sand and polish some of it out. Also, I had paint gun problems and ended up having to use my mini hvlp gun. It was very difficult to not get some streaking due to the narrow spray pattern. Overall, it should look pretty good, and definitely better than what's on the car now.

Base coat

https://i.imgur.com/PoRi7Rz.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/UtbXRbO.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/d1LhDQV.jpg

Clearcoat

https://i.imgur.com/LENu4K4.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/xtC7ALb.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/onAJ4fG.jpg

[06YarisRS]

Car back together

Replacing a liftgate is an involved affair. Probably the hardest part was fishing the car's wiring harness back into the new liftgate. I took the key core out of the old liftgate and put it in the newer assembly so the car is all keyed the same.

Wet sanding with 2000 grit

https://i.imgur.com/EaGPutn.jpg

Cut and polish

https://i.imgur.com/Lgh4YLx.jpg

Old liftgate removed

https://i.imgur.com/I2wDnk1.jpg

Wiring

https://i.imgur.com/K0muQVN.jpg

Liftgate on

https://i.imgur.com/jKtrQrb.jpg

Spoiler mounted

https://i.imgur.com/e9i3BVk.jpg

Preparing badging

https://i.imgur.com/ybb8Sr1.jpg

Finished

https://i.imgur.com/mH6KoL6.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/rMA2QEf.jpg

[ern-diz]

Proper!

[06YarisRS]

Proper!

Thanks, dude! She's all ready for the car show on Saturday. Unfortunately, I won't have time to drop the car more and get it aligned again before the show. It should be fun on Saturday. The nice/high end cars will be inside the exhibition center and all the other lowly folks, like myself, will be in the parking lot. I'll have my daughter with me on Saturday as my son - more of a car enthusiast - is playing hockey. Many bribes are in order to keep my daughter happy! Lol.

[WeeYari]

Well this sucks. In a pre-covid world, we would have been in Moncton this weekend for our annual visit. Is the show at the Coliseum, or is it not that large of an event?

Have fun and represent well.

[06YarisRS]

Well this sucks. In a pre-covid world, we would have been in Moncton this weekend for our annual visit. Is the show at the Coliseum, or is it not that large of an event?

Have fun and represent well.

Dang! That would have been really cool. It is at the Coliseum. Nice cars inside and cars like mine outside, lol. I think it will be quite a large event from what I've been hearing on various Facebook groups. They are claiming to be enforcing masks and social distancing. Hopefully, they do.

[yaris4062007]

wow car looks very good. When you remove the plug connector from the hatch, do you need to remove the headliner.

[06YarisRS]

wow car looks very good. When you remove the plug connector from the hatch, do you need to remove the headliner.

Thank you! You may have to drop the headliner a bit. I just threaded the existing harness in the car into the new liftgate, but I believe you'd have to remove, minimally, a piece of c-pillar (driver's side) and lower the headliner. The plug can't be that far in, as the liftgate harness isn't that long. Of course, I now have a spare harness as it came with the 'new' liftgate. I have a lot of extra parts, none of which likely ever break. Lol.

[yaris4062007]

Thank you for the info. ����

[06YarisRS]

Thank you for the info. ����

You're welcome.