The Mighty Toyota Yaris GR

The Mighty Toyota Yaris GR

Hey Folks,

Been a long time since I've written up a blog post so apologies. Things have been unbelievably crazy at Blackbeard's Detailing...new equipment, new products, project cars and several other things all on the go.

What better car to start up the blog posts again than the absolutely spectacular Toyota Yaris GR which was in for our new car ceramic package, paint protection film (PPF) supplied by www.aliath.co.uk Paint Protection Films and rally style mud flaps from www.rallyflapz.co.uk. Needless to say this little car was getting the works thrown at it!

It all started with contact from an existing customer who, delighted with my previous work, wished for me to care for his new Toyota Yaris GR. A long wait ensued with some regular updates on the car's status, via the very cool Toyota app, that updated him on the various stages of the build.

A few months passed then the long awaited day arrived. The first place the Yaris GR was driven to was straight to Blackbeard's Detailing to have me do the inspection and not the garage. It was at this point a safewash and temporary protection product was added (the Yaris still had 10 days to wait till it was in for it's full treatment). There was also a lot of staring at the car whilst having a coffee and the obligatory bonnet up and look at the engine bay..... for what reason I don't know, however it just had to be done. After the customer and I had defeated a pack of Jaffa Cakes and a few coffees, off the little Yaris went surely looking forward to its return.

When the day arrived the little rally-bred-nipper was fully decontaminated outside then brought in and popped on the ramp, surprisingly with great ease and plenty of space between the ramp and lifting points which is normally a struggle for hot hatches and sport cars. However, this one being a rally homologation car, it's a tad higher, but by no means looks like it's on stilts given it's small stature.

Once lifted, the wheels were whipped off to be deep cleaned - the forged alloys are unbelievably light. Then the undercarriage and arches were steam cleaned and treated with Lanoguard protection. 

Alloys were coated and popped back on then the paintwork correction phase began and what a pleasure that was. The lack of any dealership prep and the medium/soft paint was a joy to work on. The flat white paint was injected with copious amounts of gloss and clarity with ease, even the piano black (of which there is a lot) played ball..... which was nice. 

Then the RallyFlapz were installed with the fronts using the factory arch holes. However, the rears needed some measuring, checking then double checking, prior to drilling but they were fitted without too much head scratching.

Then the last bit of the puzzle before the ceramic coatings was the PPF on the rear flared arches, and boy do these arches pop out! The PPF was on in a few minutes, then the joy of coating this gorgeous car began. After 3 days of work it was looking jaw dropping and ready to be locked in with our very own Blackbeard's Detailing "The Kraken" base coat. It was then allowed to cure overnight followed by the "Man-o-War" top coat.

Yet another pack of snacks, this time French Fancies were devoured alongside some coffee whilst the customer and I poured our eyes over every angle and curve on this very special little car.

I won't lie, I was very very sad to see this leave the unit as I absolutely fell in love with it. But I was delighted when the customer was happy for me to pop my website address on the rear window and has been sending regular updates on the car's adventures.