2007 "Red Yaris" RS Restoration

[06YarisRS]

This thread will be dedicated to a major restoration I will be doing on a 2007 RS 3-door that I recently picked up.

The bad:

The car failed inspection for a the following reasons:
- Rotted rear subframe where the axle arms attach
- rear brakes (both sides)
- rear right side e-brake cable
- right front axle torn boot (I have a good used axle, but will try to just swap the boots)

There are a few other things that need fixing which include:
- driver's side door catch is missing (I pulled one from a local junkyard)
- driver's seat track is locked in position and will need fixing or replacement.
- some bubbling around the rear fender wells where it looks like it was repaired before. The car will get complete bodywork and a full repaint.
- missing springbolt on manifold-to-midpipe connection.
- back hatch latch button sticking (remove from car, disassemble, clean, degrease, relubricate tumbler, reinstall).

The good:

- drives perfectly, smooth and no creaks or noises.
- immaculate interior! I have never seen a car in such good shape for its age. The seats from this car are going in my 06 turbo Yaris. The ones in my turbo Yaris are in great shape, but these are immaculate. The interior trim pieces are also perfect and I'll be scavanging the center console bezel pieces for my '06 as well.
- $1000.00 Canadian purchase price.

Pics of the car on date of purchase:

[06YarisRS]

Repairs begin

I can't guarantee that the sequence of repairs will be documented in a logical order as I may work a little bit on this job, then a little on that job. I will edit posts though, adding pictures of each job as I go.

Car lifted on jackstands

[06YarisRS]

Rear Brakes

I have one side done. I removed everything except the wheel cylinders, cleaned up the rust, sanded the nubs that the shoes sit/slide on, painted the backing plates and greased the nubs with silicone brake lube. I disassembled, cleaned and lubricated the star adjuster assembly, installed new shoes, hardware kit and drums.



Drums were primed and painted with ceramic aluminum-colored paint



E-brake Cable









01 Sept, 2020 Update: E-brake cable installed

[kimona]

I'll be watching with enthusiasm. I have a soft spot for a 2007 Red 2-door. Lots of good memories. Loved that car!

[06YarisRS]

Subframe Rust Repair - Disclaimer - shocking images:

A 'design flaw' in these cars allows a lot of sand, dirt and debris to build up inside the cavity onto which the supports for the rear axle bushing are molded. Any water is absorbed by the crud and it sits there like a wet sponge. I've already seen several Yari that have failed inspection as a result. I expect that most of them will end up in the scrapyard well before the powertrain is ready to give up.

Before I decided to buy this car, I spent some time under it with a pry bar, flash light and a small collection of tools. Thankfully, the seller was amenable to that. Because of the gaping holes, I was able to confirm my suspicion that Toyota used heavily reinforced steel at the axle mounts and thinner steel surrounding those areas. I have yet to determine all the locations that water, dirt and debris enters these cavities and sits there doing its insidious work, but I do know how to access these areas and saturate them with oil. I think I saved my '06 in the nick of time as I drenched all these rust-prone areas well as soon as I got the car and have done so a couple times a year.







Getting these bolts out was a time-consuming process, but they came out intact. The threads above the captive nuts were very rusted. Lots of repeated doses of ReleasAll and wire brushing over a couple of days and lots of back and forth with the ratchet and they came out. I was prepared to use new bolts and weld new captive nuts in but it turned out to be unnecessary. The nuts were wire bushed, coated in antiseize and reinstalled.

I notice that my rear axle bushings are cracked. They are solid in the main part of the bushing. I actually have 2 new ones in boxes that I bought a while back as they were on clearance. If I need to, I will remove the axle and take it somewhere and have those new bushings pressed in. But, for now, it's very tight and no noise.



Body brace degreased, sanded and primed. Will paint this in satin black.





Update 01 Sept, 2020: 2nd brace degreased, sanded and primed:

The second brace bolts came out using the same procedure of wire brushing, multiple applications of penetrant and back and forth with the ratchet.

[06YarisRS]

Originally Posted by kimona

I'll be watching with enthusiasm. I have a soft spot for a 2007 Red 2-door. Lots of good memories. Loved that car!

My goal is to have my car look like yours, Kimona. Gorgeous!!!

[bronsin]

It’s always distressing to see what Canadian winters due to cars!

I grew up in upstate New York 80 miles from Lake Ontario so I have some experience with that problem.

Now that I live in New Jersey cars fare much better. My wife’s 2005 Camry with 185,000 miles is like brand new underneath!

[06YarisRS]

Door Check Install

The driver's side door check on this car was sheered off. To replace it, the door panel needs to be removed. Thanks to another post here on YW, I learned how to use a cloth to remove the window crank retaining clip. YARISWORLD MUST NOT DIE!!!


So, it appears that I will need a new door gasket as it's swollen from rust proofing. A blessing in disguise as the doors are 100% rust free. I'll be hitting the U-Pull again, so I'll grab a door gasket, or, remove a section of this one and weld it back together.



I got a lot of grey anti-seize on the door using the wrong rag, duh! It cleaned up pretty well though. Car will need a thorough detailing when I'm done for sure!





Somebody was in here before. Painter's tape???



Junkyard door check, $10.00 at U-Pull.



All re-sealed. I love Tuck Tape!



Door back together:

[komichal]

I personally find a lot more attractive if somebody restores a "normal car" rather than some rare "piece of art" that needs to sit in a museum after the successful restoration.
I wish I had time, space, money and knowledge to do that as well. :) Nice work!

[bronsin]

[06YarisRS]

Originally Posted by komichal

I personally find a lot more attractive if somebody restores a "normal car" rather than some rare "piece of art" that needs to sit in a museum after the successful restoration.
I wish I had time, space, money and knowledge to do that as well. :) Nice work!

Thank you, komichal! All of this is such a great learning experience. Some day, maybe in retirement, I will attempt the restoration of a more 'classic' automobile. Not like a true classic, but something interesting and sporty. That said, anything I fix up/restore, will get driven regularly. I agree. What's the point in putting in lots of effort and time if you can't enjoy it, other than staring at it? For the time being, my hope is to find more Yari that are seemingly destined for the scrapyard (aka, fail inspection due to the rear rust) or other minor issues, fix them up and put them back on the road. Who knows, maybe it could net me a little supplemental income in retirement.

[06YarisRS]

Originally Posted by bronsin

Thanks bronsin!

[06YarisRS]

Preparing to weld

Didn't get to go out to the car until almost dark tonight, so only had time to do a little poking around and plan my welding. I did discover more about the internal structure of the rear subframe/unibody area.

The oblong plug just in front of the rear wheel on each size does provide access to the cavity that forms part of the rear axle support structure. Spraying oil into the oblong plug holes will not actually get oil/rustproofing into the larger inboard cavity. But...there are holes a few inches up into which a short wand could be placed. Possibly even the straw on a spray can of rustproofing could reach. A flexible wand would definitely work better. No matter how you access the inner cavity, I would load it with a very large amount of oil or rustproofing. When my repairs are done, I will be using a flexible wand and blast close to 1/2 a liter or more of stuff in there. I plan to use a thin product so that it will soak through any additional debris and stuff that accumulates in there.

Here is the hole to access the inner cavity.



Another look inside

[Desircustoms]

Originally Posted by 06YarisRS

Preparing to weld

Didn't get to go out to the car until almost dark tonight, so only had time to do a little poking around and plan my welding. I did discover more about the internal structure of the rear subframe/unibody area.

The oblong plug just in front of the rear wheel on each size does provide access to the cavity that forms part of the rear axle support structure. Spraying oil into the oblong plug holes will not actually get oil/rustproofing into the larger inboard cavity. But...there are holes a few inches up into which a short wand could be placed. Possibly even the straw on a spray can of rustproofing could reach. A flexible wand would definitely work better. No matter how you access the inner cavity, I would load it with a very large amount of oil or rustproofing. When my repairs are done, I will be using a flexible wand and blast close to 1/2 a liter or more of stuff in there. I plan to use a thin product so that it will soak through any additional debris and stuff that accumulates in there.

Here is the hole to access the inner cavity.



Another look inside

Great job and great find!
Was telling my friends I feel like scrapping my Yaris because of the holes on the subframe, and they were laughing at me. I have to admit that I'd be spending as much or more time swapping the turbo setup into another Yaris than patching these holes...

I'll be following this closely as I plan on doing this before the winter.

[Konstantin88]

Good to know, thank you for the new information! It would be nice if you could take a picture of the access hole as seen from the inside of the corroded cavity. I am thinking of feeding a thin vinyl tube into the access hole until it reaches the bottom of the cavity and spraying the rust inhibitor through the tube.

On the other hand, it might be unnecessary to use the tube if the rust inhibitor readily spreads over metal surfaces by itself (similarly to, say, kerosene or WD-40).

[06YarisRS]

Originally Posted by Desircustoms

Great job and great find!
Was telling my friends I feel like scrapping my Yaris because of the holes on the subframe, and they were laughing at me. I have to admit that I'd be spending as much or more time swapping the turbo setup into another Yaris than patching these holes...

I'll be following this closely as I plan on doing this before the winter.

Yeah, it's a shame this happens. It's going to involve quite a bit of cutting and shaping metal to properly rebuild the area. I was toying with the idea of welding in some reinforcement patches and then using a heavy fiberglass mat and epoxy resin to just fill the thin metal hole. But, that will be a last resort if I can't mold up nice metal pieces to 'rebuild' it close to the same shape as original. I wouldn't worry about the fiberglass as it's both thick and won't let go if the surfaces are well prepped. Also, the cavity will be filled with oil, so should stay in good shape. Hope to start digging deep into this on the weekend.

[06YarisRS]

Originally Posted by Konstantin88

Good to know, thank you for the new information! It would be nice if you could take a picture of the access hole as seen from the inside of the corroded cavity. I am thinking of feeding a thin vinyl tube into the access hole until it reaches the bottom of the cavity and spraying the rust inhibitor through the tube.

On the other hand, it might be unnecessary to use the tube if the rust inhibitor readily spreads over metal surfaces by itself (similarly to, say, kerosene or WD-40).

I will try to grab you a pic from the inside later today or tomorrow. Pretty wet out there today. I like the flexible tube as it would cover all areas, but, yes, if you dumped tons of stuff in there, it should fill up a bit and soak everything. I guess you just never know how much debris/dirt is in there, so you want enough oil to thoroughly soak through that to the metal.

[Desircustoms]

Originally Posted by 06YarisRS

Yeah, it's a shame this happens. It's going to involve quite a bit of cutting and shaping metal to properly rebuild the area. I was toying with the idea of welding in some reinforcement patches and then using a heavy fiberglass mat and epoxy resin to just fill the thin metal hole. But, that will be a last resort if I can't mold up nice metal pieces to 'rebuild' it close to the same shape as original. I wouldn't worry about the fiberglass as it's both thick and won't let go if the surfaces are well prepped. Also, the cavity will be filled with oil, so should stay in good shape. Hope to start digging deep into this on the weekend.

Last time I looked at it, I got discouraged because it's so close to the fuel tank on the driver side...
Your thread is motivating!
I had the same idea, if I can't fully patch the holes, I'll weld some braces at least.