Various Minor Repairs, Mostly Cosmetic

Discuss any problems, warranty, repair, or replacement issues you are having with your Vibe & Matrix
Post Reply
technotite
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Sep 08, 2019 4:32 pm

Various Minor Repairs, Mostly Cosmetic

Post by technotite »

I finally acquired a Jet Black '09 Vibe (what I always wanted -- a second gen vibe) recently after my '03 was totaled a few years ago. Mechanically, it's in great shape and has relatively low mileage (76.5k).

There's a few minor cosmetic and potentially one body repair that need done.

While I have little to no automotive background (other than working on the '03 Vibe) -- I'm fairly confident in my ability to do a few of the repairs -- namely, the apparently quite common volume knob repair, and replacing a broken passenger side door handle.

It appears that the splash guard/shield (at least that's what I think it is?) has come loose from the fender. I remember this being a problem with my '03 Vibe -- but that's because I abused it and treated it like an offroad vehicle on some occasions. Is this an easy repair for a layman or will I want to go to the GM dealership to have this done? [Pictures attached]

Bad Side:
Image

Good Side:
Image

Additionally, there are a few scratches on the exterior of the vehicle that I'd like to touch up. Any recommendations on a product for that? I've also put a few scratches on the interior -- on the back seat's back panels when I put my bike in -- anything that will clean up the scratches to the grey plastic?

Many thanks!
- technotite
andrewclaus
Posts: 482
Joined: Tue Oct 03, 2017 6:38 pm
Location: Golden, CO

Re: Various Minor Repairs, Mostly Cosmetic

Post by andrewclaus »

When it comes to fender liners and undercovers, I usually rummage through my collection of large pan head sheet metal screws and make new anchors in new locations. I drill a slightly larger hole in the outer piece, and a small hole in the inner piece if needed. Often the s/m screw will self-tap into the inner piece. In invisible locations, I'll use hex head self-tapping s/m screws with a 1/4" driver. I might bridge your failed anchor with two new screws. Paint them black if desired, or look for black anodized screws. There are a few of those in my collection.

On my Vibe, I had some loose door weatherstripping, and I was able to use short drywall screws to anchor it to the body members. They're flat head and black and have been working fine for a couple of years. I even used a drywall screw to hold the center brake light in place on the back door. Drywall screws easily self tap into body sheet metal.

There are some YouTube videos on scratch repair.
Bookworm
Posts: 764
Joined: Fri Nov 05, 2010 11:21 am
Location: Houston, TX

Re: Various Minor Repairs, Mostly Cosmetic

Post by Bookworm »

The fender liners are often available from RockAuto, and they're held in by easy to get pop-ins. As long as the metal itself isn't torn, putting in a new popin is easy.
zbyers
Posts: 1767
Joined: Thu Apr 03, 2014 6:12 pm
Location: Sheffield, Pennsylvania

Re: Various Minor Repairs, Mostly Cosmetic

Post by zbyers »

You'd need some sort of device to hold the wheel well liner to the fender/bumper cover. Usually there is something simliar to this holding it on.

Image

As for paint touch up/exterior scratches, I'd recommend taking it to a shop that specializes in detailing. While more than doing it yourself, they will do the entire vehicle in probably the same amount of time, usually for a reasonable fee. Our local detail shop does exterior details for ~$100-150. When the time comes for me, that's well worth the cost.

For the interior scratches, there isn't too much you can really do. It's plastic, and once it's gouged you either have the gouge, or you could try and sand it down to smooth it.
'74 Thing, '79 El Camino, '83 VW DoKa '91 Vanagon, '03 Base, 04 GT
'06 CRV, '06 AWD, '07 Base, '12 Highlander Limited, '17 Frontier CCLB

Byerscrew Garage, GenVibe Facebook, How-To Index
Everything You Need To Know About the Pontiac Vibe
Post Reply