2007 "Red Yaris" RS Restoration

[06YarisRS]

Welding started

I discovered something interesting and probably explains why this rotted so badly. I pulled a large piece of foam (like mattress foam) out of the wheel well. This quarter panel had been impacted and repaired. Despite the holes drilled in the door jambs for rustproofing, the oil soaked into the upper part of the foam, none making it down to where it was really needed.







First brace



Heavy gauge strip welded underneath. Two more braces will be added toward the outer edge. They will be welded on to the two inner pieces of metal visible. All the factory supports that I'm welding on to are very strong. They just rotted at the very bottom where water pooled.



Second brace



Rebuilding pinch weld seam. The outer panel skin will form the outer edge of the rocker seam. I will mold in water drains.



Temporary primer. After the two additional braces are added, I am going to weld an approximate 3 ft long piece of heavy angle iron behind the rocker pinch weld seam. This will tie into just forward and aft of the repair area. In it's current state, it's already strong enough to support a jack under it. With the two addirional braces, the angle iron behind the pinch seam and the outer panel skin, I could probably lift the entire car from this point.