Well since I received the handmedown Vibe 4 weeks ago, I have bought Tein springs, painted the hood and the tops of the fenders semi gloss black(more to fix the peeling clear than style), sanded and cleared the headlights (adding a eyebrow to the top that brings the black farther down), changed a caliper, ordered a new front arrowhead and filler decals from Grafexwerks for the arrowhead and locks, painted the grills black (the lowers are broke but member on here is supplying new ones.
), relocated front license plate from factory bracket to in front of lower grills (gave it a more streamlined contour by bending it and frame over my knee 
) and fastened it down with some new stainless theft proof torx screws. Never considered myself a "tuner" but I looked up the definition and "lo and behold" I have always been one.Can't do alot to this one because I have a 1974 Dodge Charger that likes to devour my money. I call it the "girlfriend". So far the Vibe is getting Tein springs, Tokico struts, new strut mounts, boots, calipers, master cylinder, rear brakes, hatch struts, top and upper rails painted black, wheels are probably going gloss black with custom silver arrowhead centers and open end lug nuts if I can find them. I have a Alpine headunit on the way which will go with the Alpine door speakers it already had. Also put a shorty 5 inch antannae on it. I am in the middle of modding the top rails into a cover so I hope it turns out because I like cheap.
I have always had 2 rules to my restyling of any vehicle I own. The mod must blend with the overall look of the car and not stand out. And second it must look professional. My cheapest mod so far is adding short pieces of convoluted wire tubing to the headrest uprights for instant sport seats. I am thinking about having Pontiac embroidered in silver in the head rests or middle of the seat cover. Since this is going to be my work vehicle I put the back seat down and am making a plywood panel to cover with carpet for the whole rear area to give the Vibe a Australian Ute kinda feel.
Lat weekend I had a 5 inch tint band added to the windshield. For the interior iI have ordered some ColorBond to paint the light gray interior components a Graphite color. The tri tone interior has always bugged me along with the A pillar (windshield for non bodyshop speaking peoples) moulding glaring at you as you walk up to the car. I'm leaving everything headliner area light colored because it needs help from the heat. Currently I am researching sound deadener and insulation to do some luxury mods.
I have been patiently waiting to install my new fender emblems from Sickspeed that have the engine callout on them. Those are going in front of the mirrors on the dividing line between the red and black. Some of my friends are never going to believe it because I have NEVER added a emblem to anything I have ever owned ! I once debadged a new lawn mower, painted the wheels a custom color and added hubcaps to please my OCD nature.
Other than getting it all cleaned and buffed (my wife likes to DRIVE clean cars, not CLEAN them) and fix the tensioner rattle, that's pretty much the story of the handmedown Vibe so far. I may add a Gt wheel, remove the second convertor and sound chamber and add a custom single inlet/ dual outlet muffler, replace the lower a arms with new and upgrade with Energy suspension bushings and detail the sway bars with some paint, Hotchkiss stickers, urethane bushings and some rod end end links. From there this summer may see me repainting the sides red and removing the outside rear door handles. I have always wanted to take the side mouldings off but someone cleared over them doing a repair keeping me from it. Its kinda funny but since driving it, I have noticed the side moulding duplicates the lines in the tailights and on the side of the bumpers and want to keep them. Who knows..........
I have managed to clearcoat my new springs, install my new emblems, install new hatch struts and order some stuff for sound deadening since starting this thread so things are moving along. Hopefully this weekend will see the black all painted and some other stuff done. Here is my one pic for now and I am working on a photobucket account so there may be more if I can figure it out.
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