Rebirth of an Iconic Yaris

[CTScott]

Originally Posted by JustPassinThru

Daunting.

It puzzles me, though...seems there's so much work there, and what with rust and all...I wonder how it would have compared to purchasing a good used Yaris off a lot or Craigslist.

Also, comments on the rusted suspension parts make me wonder. Is that going to prove a problem? My 2009 saw four severe winters and wasn't the worse when I sold it...but that was why I sold it. Take advantage of the high resale value. Is this something we have to watch for, that other Toys don't have problems with?

Even with all I put into it, his final cost will be less than half of what a used one would sell for around here. Granted that my labor in this project was pro-bono.

With the suspension issue, I truly believe that it is a factor of the road salt currently used. A California 07 with over 100K miles that I recently parted out barely had surface rust on its bolts and the bottom of the car looked it had just rolled off the assembly line.

This one had never had the bolts replaced and did not have the seam sealing done per the TSB. After spending time under this one with the subframe dropped I understand the significance of the seam sealing per the TSB. Checking and replacing the bolts on a regular basis will likely be fine, but the seam sealing with seriously reduce the amount of moisture that can get to the bolts.

[tooter]

Originally Posted by CTScott

Even with all I put into it, his final cost will be less than half of what a used one would sell for around here. Granted that my labor in this project was pro-bono.

Scott... you are truly laying up a store of treasure in heaven for all of the good you are doing here.


Greg

[Astroman]

Wow. As an old timer on here I'm happy to see a once great car saved from the scrapper and made road worthy again! Chino was the one who got me on yw back when I just got my yaris and we were on cardomain. This car was the inspiration for me to start modding my meteorite and Chino was one of the former moderators who nominated me to join the ranks of moderator. Amazing restoration and transmission swap Scott, hats off to you.